A Summer in Film
by PD31
Summary: Third part in the iSwitch Schools, A Place to Call Home series. Having completed their junior year the gang, and their friends from Seattle, have the summer to figure a few things out; they have a programme at school to occupy them while they also seek to gain a foothold in the industry.
1. Chapter 1

**A Summer in Film**

By PD31  
Disclaimer: I _still _don't own iCarly, Victorious, any of the episodes or any of the characters.  
Rating: T  
Pairing: Established Caddie (Cat/Freddie), others may come. Strongest friendships are Cade, Jedi and Seddie.  
Summary: Third part in the iSwitch Schools, A Place to Call Home series. Having completed their junior year the gang, and their friends from Seattle, have the summer to figure a few things out; they have a programme at school to occupy them while they also seek to gain a foothold in the industry.

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest story in this series. This will be a short story, just a few chapters, bridging between A Place to Call Home and the, currently untitled, story that will cover their final year at Hollywood Arts. As Carly and Sam feature prominently in this one it is, as you can see, in the iCarly/Victorious cross-over section; the next story will be in the Victorious archive. I hope that you all enjoy this one.**

* * *

Chapter 1

_Los Angeles International Airport,_

_1 World Way, Los Angeles, CA,_

_Thursday, 30__th__ June 2011_.

Two teenagers sat near the baggage claim carousels in the airport as they waited for the inbound flight from Seattle to land and its passengers, two in particular, to disembark. The couple, however, found a way to keep themselves occupied while they waited; what had begun as a quiet cuddle had evolved into Cat Valentine wriggling into Freddie Benson's lap and them beginning to trade increasingly passionate kisses as the throng of airport customers passed them by.

This was to be the sight that greeted the two Seattle natives as they hauled their luggage (in truth it was mostly Carly Shay's; Sam Puckett had travelled reasonably light) away from the carousel. The brunette paused briefly as she spotted them, Sam's eyes lit up as she surveyed them; the blonde teen broke into a broad smile and, as stealthily as she could given the luggage she was wielding, approached the couple, still kissing and totally lost in one another.

"Hey lovebirds," the former miscreant called jovially as she reached them, "knock it off." Freddie and Cat separated with a start at the call and looked over to the blonde. "Some people around here aren't getting any," she teased, throwing her brunette housemate a look.

"Sam!" Carly shrieked, scandalised by her phraseology.

"Sam," Freddie grinned, "Carly," he nodded at the girls (which was all that he could do with his arms around the redhead in his lap); he and Cat both reddened a little as they processed her words as, independently, they both _had_ been thinking back to _that_ night the previous week.

Cat smiled broadly at the newcomers, hopped to the floor and pounced on Sam; Freddie laughed at the discomfort that the blonde showed with the enthusiastic welcome, happy that it was his friend's turn to feel a little awkward.

"Hey Carls, great to see you again," he walked over to the brown-haired girl and pulled her into a hug, one that she eagerly reciprocated. Sam soon fought Cat off and she, too, hugged Freddie, even accepting a cheek kiss from him, while the two cupcake-loving girls also greeted one another pleasantly although still with a slight trace of reservation, particularly on Cat's part.

"Good flight?" he asked the girls, taking the heavier of the cases.

"Meh," Sam shrugged.

"Oh it was alright," Carly spoke up, swatting her friend on the arm.

"Yeah, I'd just rather not have to fly," the blonde grumbled.

"You don't like flying?" Cat asked sympathetically.

"It's not that – though it _is_ long and boring – more that…" she tailed off, not sure quite how to put her feelings into words.

"You miss Brad?" Freddie guessed.

"Yeah," she confirmed, "don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to the course and seeing and hanging with all of you guys – even _you_," she playfully dug an elbow into Freddie's ribs, "but it's going to be a long few weeks until I see him again."

"Sounds like someone's in love," Freddie teased back with a grin; Cat was elated by the pronouncement and joined in the gentle teasing of the blonde, who took it in a surprisingly good-natured way. "I'll have to see some photos of you and the legendary Brad," his mirth increased as he spoke; Sam made a mental note to get him back for it later.

"I have some on my phone," she told him, "I can show you later, once I don't have my hands full of Carly's emergency clothes."

"Hey, it's not _all_ mine," the brunette pouted sulkily, drawing chuckles from the other three. Her glower only caused their mirth to increase until finally she admitted defeat and cracked a smile of her own.

_Benson residence, Hollywood Hills_

The quartet had returned to Freddie's home for a light snack (or not so light in Sam's case) and hung out for a little while, catching up with some recent events in each other's lives (including checking out the photos of Sam's new beau) before Cat left, taking Carly with her, as the girl would be staying with the Valentines while Sam stayed with Freddie and his mother for the duration of the course.

With Marissa at home, Sam opted not to probe Freddie on his own love life in front of the matriarch. She waited, therefore, until they were getting ready for bed, changing into her nightdress before slipping into Freddie's room.

"Hey," she greeted him softly, padding over to his bed and taking a seat on it; Freddie was lying under the covers and had been reading a book, but he set it down on his nightstand after looking up at the visitor's arrival.

"Hey Sam," he returned with a smile, "is everything ok?"

"Yeah I just… I wanted you to know I didn't _mean_ anything by the crack at the airport," she began in a low voice. "What you told me a couple of days ago – I've kept it to myself, just like I've kept what you told me about… about _Lindsey_ to myself; I haven't said a word about it to Carly or Spencer or anyone."

"I know you wouldn't, Sam, and I appreciate the discretion," he told her sincerely, then he surprised her with a snigger, "the _look_ on Carly's face when you said that though!" She joined him in laughter, though they tried to keep it muted so as not to rouse Mrs Benson, feeling that she wouldn't appreciate the blonde being in her son's room late at night.

"So how was it?" the blonde probed; they hadn't discussed _the act_ as such over the phone, but Sam _was_ curious given her own lack of experience.

Freddie looked a little uncomfortable at the personal line of questioning but it was asked in a tone of genuine interest and curiosity rather than some kind of interrogation so, as his mind wandered back to that night, he gave a dreamy smile as he admitted, "it was the best night of my life."

"I'm glad," his friend told him sincerely, happy that he had had a better experience than the previous one he had related to her.

"The morning after was a little awkward though," he found himself able to grin at the memory, now that a few days had passed.

"Oh?" she pried gently, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, you see her parents had let her have the house for the party and we… we both fell asleep after." Sam wickedly matched his grin as she grasped the inference of his revelation. "And her mom and dad came home, saw my car was there, looked in to her room, saw us there in her bed; despite the sheets covering us we were fairly obviously minus clothing…" he tailed off with a frown as the girl could contain her laughter no more.

"Sorry Freddie," she gasped an apology once her mirth had sufficiently subsided, "but that's _awesome_. So they woke you up in cold fury and chased you naked from their home?" she suggested with a broad smile.

"No," he frowned a little and corrected her misapprehension, "I daresay her dad _would_ have begun beating me with Cat's pink putter until both me _and_ it were out of shape as a way of either waking me up, or alternatively making sure I never woke again, but…" he smiled fondly, "Cat told me later that her mom thought she looked so happy and so peaceful lying there with me that she was able to stay her husband's hand – though it was still rather awkward the following morning."

"You weren't offered breakfast?" she guessed.

"No, I _was_ – but it was something of an inquisition. I can't blame Mr Valentine; he's looking out for his baby girl but it _was_ all a bit embarrassing – and he's been rather frosty towards me since then."

"Oh, I wish I'd been there then," Sam smirked. "What about your mom? What does she think of baby Freddie being all grown up now?" She reached over and tickled his midriff teasingly through his sheets and nightwear, sniggering as he swatted at her hands.

"She sat me down and talked at me, basically said there'd be no repeat under _her_ roof – but, however grudgingly, she does approve of Cat as a girlfriend for me now so she wasn't overly hysterical."

"I'm guessing there's been no repeat at _her_ place either?"

He shook his head to confirm the girl's assumption; having talked about it both he and Cat would quite _like_ a repeat at some point but her parents seemed determined to make sure that it didn't happen in a hurry. Freddie and Sam sat in companiable silence for a few moments before the blonde grew bored of the quiet.

"So what do you have planned for us for tomorrow?" she changed the subject.

"Well, _Miss Fire_ is finally in the theatres so we were planning on going."

"Oh cool, your big screen debut," his friend enthused.

"Yeah, my friends want to see it so," he shrugged, "we're going now that you guys are here too – assuming Carly and Cat make it tomorrow."

"Why wouldn't they?" Sam sounded surprised and a little confused.

_Valentine residence_

The two girls were holed up in Cat's room; the redhead had propped up a few poles and draped a bed-sheet over them to create a make-shift 'den' where the two cupcake addicts were steadily working their way through a large tray of their favourite red-velvet treats.

"This is a great way to spend an evening," Cat enthused.

"I know; I need to get a tray just before we go back to Seattle. These are _good_," Carly sighed contentedly as she took another bite, savouring the mouthful for a few moments before swallowing. Cat cocked an eyebrow at the girl's reaction; much as she loved the treats even _she_ didn't think they quite merited that level of enthusiasm.

"So how's things in Seattle? How's your school?" she enquired; Carly paused on the brink of taking another bite and, instead, put the half-eaten bun back on her plate.

"Life is good," she confirmed. "I'm close to the top of my class which, for a private school, is pretty good," the girl attempted to sound modest but struggled to keep the pride from her tone.

Cat nodded along; she felt a small pang of envy at the other girl's academic prowess but reminded herself that her own skills lay elsewhere – performing, singing, costumes – and that they were where she wanted to focus her life anyway.

"Any guys catch your eye?" she smiled, recalling the brunette's admission that she was in 'a dry spell' last time they had met.

"Some," Carly disclosed, "but none who are single – or seem that interested in me."

"Why not?" Cat was surprised to hear this. "You're famous! And pretty," she added artfully. "I'd have thought the guys would queue up for a date with you."

Carly shrugged sadly. "Well they haven't been recently. Sam's guy is a transfer student to our _old_ school – she met him at the _Groovy Smoothie_ when she was hanging there one afternoon, I had a club meeting so I wasn't there. How about you?" she sought to turn the conversation around a little. "How's Freddie treating you?"

"_Very_ well," she stressed, "I couldn't be happier with him," she smiled before diving into a cupcake, giggling again at the sensation of the cream topping and filling clinging to her nose before she used her finger to mop it up and licked the digit clean.

"I'm happy for you both," Carly told her, saying it with sincerity – though a small part of her longed for the good old days of Freddie loving and being eager to please _her_. She finished her bun rather more daintily than the approach taken by the redhead. "Ok, I think we should stop now and get some rest," she took the other girl's wrist gently but firmly as she attempted to select another treat, she then closed the box and took it out of her hostess's reach, "otherwise the sugar will keep us up all night and we won't be able to join the others tomorrow."

"Right," Cat looked disappointed but had to concede the point, "we're going to see Freddie's movie tomorrow," she cried happily.

Carly smiled but dug a finger into her ear, hoping that the other girl's enthusiastic vocals hadn't damaged her hearing. She crawled out from under the sheet and, bidding the redhead goodnight, headed for the guest room while Cat took the sheet off the poles, spread it back on her bed, kicked off her slippers, slipped underneath the sheet and turned off her bedside lamp. She pulled the covering up to her chin and smiled as she waited for sleep to take her, thinking of her brown-eyed lover as she did.

_Green Meadow Mall,_

_6801 Hollywood Blvd_

_Friday, 1__st__ July 2011_.

As agreed, the gang met at the mall a little before one showing of _Miss Fire_ was due to begin. The remainder of the Hollywood Arts gang were pleased to meet their Seattle-based friends again and they had a short period of time to chat before having to enter the cinema.

The group enjoyed the film, though all of them would have preferred it if their friend had had more of a role in it than the couple of lines during a scene in a restaurant (Tori was also able to smile as she spotted herself as a background extra in the same scene; she was sitting at one of the tables drinking coffee but a clear shot of her face looking at the camera had made the final cut). Cat, meanwhile, only just managed to restrain herself from cheering as her boy appeared on screen, settling instead for hugging his arm a little tighter during his brief stint in the limelight before resting her head on his shoulder and half-taking in the rest of the movie while her mind wandered.

"So what did you think?" Freddie asked his friends as they left the cinema.

"I liked it," Carly smiled, "and Jennifer Connelly was really good," she enthused.

"It was good seeing you up there but you needed a bigger part," Sam observed.

"Well hopefully there'll be more opportunities for me soon," he replied.

"Oh that's right," the blonde turned to him thoughtfully as the others raised their eyebrows a little, "you said the studio had been back in touch about another minor role."

"Yes," he confirmed, "a little bigger than this one was; I just have to do my best, show what I can do and make the most of whatever opportunities I get here that people might see."

"_That's_ why you're dropping Sikowitz's class then? You feel it's personal and you don't get chances?" Robbie pressed.

"It's a combination of things. I don't like him, I don't trust him and I _do_ feel overlooked, given how long it's been since I had a part in something he's put on," he explained. "We have _one year_ left here, one more year to build up our resumes and if he won't give me the opportunities to do that then I _need_ to find someone who will."

The other Hollywood Arts students, other than Cat who, of course, had followed his lead in switching class, gave slightly surprised looks (as it wasn't something that many of them had really considered) while Carly and Sam nodded their understanding.

"Does anyone have any other plans for the long weekend before we start the course on Tuesday?" Jade looked around the group, feeling proud of herself when she was able to include Alyssa and Beck in those that she looked at, and keep a smile on her face even when addressing her ex- and his current girlfriend.

"Not really." "No," were the majority sentiments.

"We'll probably play miniature golf at some point over the weekend," Freddie's pronouncement drew an excited squeal from his girlfriend, a smile from Carly and a slight wince from Sam, "but other than that probably just hanging and catching up," he turned to the two Seattleites who nodded their agreement.

"Ok, cool, mind if I tag along?" Jade asked.

"Not at all."

_Sherman Oaks Castle Park _

_4989 Sepulveda Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA_

_Monday, 4__th__ July 2011_.

"You've played this course before," Jade mock-complained as Freddie took the group's first shot, sending the ball serenely into the hole for a hole-in-one. He grinned at her before Cat pounced on him to give a celebratory hug. He then, as was customary, 'helped' the girl with her first shot, drawing warm smiles from the others at their affection, and (much to her surprise) Cat's ball joined his in the hole, earning her a kiss from her man. Sam's opening shot came to rest a couple of inches from the hole and the blonde groaned slightly in frustration, though she felt better as Carly's wild shot ricocheted several times off the scenery before coming to rest a couple of feet from where she'd taken the shot.

"Good shot," the raven-haired girl taunted her gently before playing her own ball, which rolled into Sam's, sending the blonde's ball into the hole.

"Cool, thanks," the former tear-away smiled; Jade glared at her in reply. Cat laughed and laced her fingers with Freddie's as they retrieved their balls from the hole and waited for the other two girls to complete the hole (Jade managed it on her next shot while Carly took four shots to sink her putt).

As usual Freddie began to take a comfortable lead over the others; Sam and Jade battled Cat for second place (her familiarity with the course, and Freddie's occasional assistance, kept her in contention) while Carly's struggles continued, through the brunette kept a smile on her face and seemed to be enjoying the game and just being happy about the fun time spent with her friends.

"What are you thinking?" Freddie asked the brunette midway around as he spotted her smiling broadly but at nothing in particular.

"Oh, just how much fun it is to do stuff like this really," she grinned.

"Your school friends are still too straight-laced for this sort of thing?" he asked in surprise.

"None of them seem to really have a _life_ outside of Briarwood," she complained, "other than when I recruited a couple to help with _iCarly_ for a bit when…" she threw a cautious glance towards Sam; the blonde was talking with Jade so neither were paying attention to the brown-haired pair's conversation, "Sam wasn't around," she finished at a rush, "I have _friends_ there," she insisted, "but nobody that I really _hang_ with away from school so it's usually whoever is in the _Groovy Smoothie_ when I meet Sam on an evening that I talk with – and people will usually only be _there_ if they don't have other plans."

Freddie nodded sympathetically. "What happened to the ones you _did_ recruit?" he asked curiously.

"Their parents put a stop to them doing stuff like that. They weren't on scholarship like me so they are paying some pretty high fees to go there."

"And their parents want value for money," Freddie finished with another nod.

"So this is it," Sam declared with relish as she placed her ball at the start of the eighteenth and final hole, "me, you and Cat – all tied for second," she addressed Jade (Freddie was several shots clear and Carly still a fair few behind).

"Game on," the gothic teen grinned.

Cat enlisted Freddie's 'assistance' again, leading to vocal complaints from the other two; the redhead managed to officially come second, though both Sam and Jade decided to disqualify her from the competition (which ended in a tie as they both scored three on the final hole, to Cat's two). Some good natured arguing followed over ice cream before the quintet left the course in high spirits.

"So, what else are you guys up to?" Jade asked, feeling something of an outsider, given the living arrangements for the duration of the course.

"Is anyone hungry? Apart from Sam of course," Freddie smiled and shot a smirk at his friend; his jibe earned a playful elbow from the blonde, though her legendary appetite meant that she couldn't dispute his point.

"I can eat," Cat volunteered.

"_Wok Star?_" Jade suggested; the others agreed. Cat called Tori and the others, all of whom were happy to meet them again and the friends shared an enjoyable meal to celebrate the summer and the start of their course the following day.

_Black Box theatre,_

_Hollywood Arts High School,_

_Tuesday, 5__th__ July 2011_.

"Alright, young performers," Sikowitz declared as he walked onto the stage to formally open proceedings. "Welcome," he gestured to a large banner behind him, which was emblazoned with the programme title, "to _A Summer in Film_." He smiled at the assembled teenagers (forty in number). "Over the next couple of weeks we'll be exploring some of the principles and ideas behind acting on film, how it differs from live theatre and live performances, the pros," he wrinkled his nose, feeling that the medium was inferior to theatre, "and the cons," his enthusiasm had returned, "and _hopefully_ you'll all be a little more prepared for it if and when you begin landing roles." He spared a look at Freddie and Tori, who was sat next to him (Cat, of course, was on his other side). "Of course some of us _already_ have roles on our resumes but I hope you will still find these classes valuable." The balding teacher motioned to the other staff members, sitting in the front row, and they joined him on stage. "Mr Allen will be taking a group and working on directing – some of the lessons should work equally well on stage as they do on screen, while Marty will be taking one acting class while I take the other. Lane will be on hand if anyone needs to talk to him – and providing additional adult supervision, Chris will be doing some directing as well, while Tilda will be covering some of the principles of filming and cameras, since that is her forte."

"The first thing to do," the female teacher spoke up, "is to divide you all into groups. With the numbers I think we'll work with five groups of eight. The groups for today are on this paper," she held a sheet up to them, "which I will place here at the side of the stage. We will be mixing things up as the course goes on but, for today, group 1 can come with me, group 2 with Sikowitz, Marty will take group 3 this morning, Mr Allen has group 4 and Chris will take group 5."

With that the short introduction came to an end; the teachers went their separate ways while a throng of students gathered around the note to see which group they had been placed in.

_Sikowitz's Classroom_

Slightly to his irritation, Freddie had been placed in Sikowitz's group for the first part of the course; he was in a group with Jade and Carly while André, Cat and Tori were together and Sam, Beck and Robbie were part of a third group.

Sikowitz threw his charges straight into a scene, asking them to perform from a script and critiquing them during the performance; he stopped them on a number of occasions, reminding them that, unlike a live performance, they needed to be mindful of where the camera and boom microphone would be so that their faces and dialogue were captured. Carly fared better than most, her experience of performing in front of a camera so often was a major boost and her performance was something the eccentric teacher pointed to, encouraging the others to attempt to emulate the brunette's efforts.

_Asphalt Café_

"That was a great morning," Carly enthused as she and her colleagues sat together at their usual table.

"Only because Sikowitz _loved_ you," Jade jibed.

"Well, that _does_ help," she admitted, still feeling a little uncertain around the gothic teen.

_Black Box theatre_

The afternoon would turn out to be an important one for Freddie; it started out well enough, with the groups putting on some demonstrations one other, showing some of the different techniques that they had covered in the morning. After his scene Freddie was intercepted on the way back to his seat by a man he didn't recognise.

"Freddie Benson?" the man began.

"Yes," he confirmed cautiously, shooting a glance to Lane, who had arrived at his shoulder at the other's approach.

"I'm from Paramore Studios." Jade, who was close enough to overhear, raised an eyebrow while Cat, stood at her boyfriend's shoulder, gasped in happy surprise. "We were all impressed with you during _Miss Fire_ and the productions that we've seen from you here; we know you're going to be playing a small role in one of our other forthcoming productions but we want you to have a decent-sized part in _another_ new movie that we're planning."

"Why don't we talk this through in my office," Lane suggested; Freddie raised his eyebrows a little but went along as the Guidance Counsellor chivvied them out of the theatre.

"Oh, Miss West?" the studio rep called as they left. "Maybe you could come along as well?"

Jade shrugged nonchalantly but inside her excitement and emotions were bubbling up as she followed them to Lane's office. Cat stared after them, feeling excited for her friends, though a part of her wished, of course, that she had _also_ received a summons.

"Are you staying?" the rep asked Lane in surprise as he took a seat in his wicker chair.

"Yes," he confirmed, "these kids are under-age and, as far as I'm aware, don't have formal representation – so I'm staying to make sure they have someone in _their_ corner."

"You don't trust the studio?" he was challenged.

"To not take advantage of teenagers and brow-beat them into signing below market-value contracts? No," he shook his head. The man looked affronted but didn't respond. The two teens, meanwhile, looked at one another with raised eyebrows; Freddie found himself having to reappraise his view of the counsellor.

"Very well," the rep muttered finally before turning to the male teen and forcing a smile back onto his face. "Now Freddie, the movie is essentially about a group of teens battling to survive in a world wracked by disaster – post-apocalyptic or something similar, we haven't quite decided on _what_ happened but want _you_ to be one of the main actors in the group."

"Sounds great," he replied enthusiastically, happy to be receiving the recognition and feeling that this could be his big chance to _really_ make a name for himself in the industry.

"And Jade," he turned to the girl, "yours would be a smaller role, since you're still an unknown, but you'd be in part of it at least. I saw your short film for the Showcase recently; that's the level of creepiness that we'd be looking for from your character – someone to chill the audience's blood a little."

"Oh I can do that," she replied confidently, a little disappointed that it would be a small role but eager to take full opportunity of whatever was presenting itself to her.

"Freddie," Lane called once the studio representative had left and the teens were making to follow him out of the door; both paused and turned back to him. "He'll be back, with a contract next time – in fact I'd be surprised if he didn't have one with him that he expected you to just blindly sign. You might want to get someone official to represent you by the time he does. You too, Jade."

"Good idea," the brown-haired boy conceded with a nod.

"Here," Lane gave them each a couple of business cards, "are some people our students have worked with in the past who are quite well thought of by the staff here." Freddie wrinkled his nose, feeling that it didn't sound _that_ glowing a recommendation given his opinion of some of the staff, "or you can call someone at whichever guild you guys have joined; they can probably suggest someone."

"Guild?" Jade asked.

"Yes, you _really_ should join one as Hollywood is quite heavily unionised," Lane explained, "not being in one is another way of finding yourself blackballed as the guilds would really like it to be a closed shop; if studios hire non-guild actors, big names stop working with them."

"I was told to sign up when I got this second part offered," Freddie nodded, "I'll call my rep and see if they can sit in the next time the studio pays a visit. Thank you for today though, Lane," he smiled at the man. Jade nodded and the two left the office.

"What happened?" Cat asked excitedly; she, Carly, Sam, Tori, André and Robbie had camped outside the Guidance Counsellor's office waiting for them to emerge. Freddie relayed the good news, Jade adding the details of her own part in the movie. The redhead squealed and pulled the two of them into a hug with her, Carly and Sam also offered warm congratulations.

The other Hollywood Arts students in their group were supportive, though they admitted to a little jealousy of the pair.

"Well, the guy did say that he or one of his colleagues was going to be around for most of the next two weeks – plus there was a guy in the audience that I recognised from the set of your – and Beck's – " Freddie smirked at Tori, "stunt so there are people here to watch us; you have a couple of weeks to impress them."

"Right," the half-Latina squared her jaw a little in determination; she was hoping to receive a call from the studio after her recent efforts and felt that there was a lot of sense to her friend's words – that this was an excellent opportunity to stand out in the small group, to impress anyone who may be watching and to hopefully land a role of her own. All she had to do was work hard and be ready to take it when it came along.

_Benson residence_

Freddie, Cat, Sam and Carly sat in the living area toasting the boy's news (Marissa was still at work but Freddie knew she'd be excited as well when she got home and he told her). Sam could, though, detect at slight disappointment in the redhead's demeanour.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I mean I'm _thrilled_ for Freddie and Jade to be getting this chance but, if I'm honest…"

"You want the chance as well?" the blonde guessed correctly.

"I mean it's such a great opportunity, especially for you getting a pretty _major role_," she enthused, "that I guess I can't help but compare our careers."

"I _promise_ that I'll put in _plenty_ of good words for you if they decide they need any more female characters," he insisted.

"And in the meantime," Carly spoke up, "how about using these couple of weeks – and beyond – to expand your repertoire a little." Cat looked a little confused so she continued, "It's just, whatever you're doing, you _always_ come across as this happy, fun-loving girl and…" she hesitated awkwardly as a little sadness crept into her hostess's eyes, "I'm _not_ saying that you _can't_ be her but when you're on stage try to go for a few more serious parts maybe?" she suggested. "If people from the studio are around then they're probably looking for actors who can play as many parts as possible – unless you absolutely excel at one part so taking on a few different roles might help you."

Cat nodded. "I'll give it a try," she said. "We did a little role reversal for our final performance in Sikowitz's class," she reminded her boyfriend, "and that went quite well. Thanks," she smiled at the brunette, who returned it graciously.

_Valentine residence_

Carly left the guest bathroom and paused on the threshold of her room; she looked down the corridor and saw a sliver of light under Cat's door. The girl swallowed twice before reaching the door, knocking gently on it and slowly pushing it open, peeping around to see the redhead in bed, propped up on one arm and reading a magazine.

"Can I come in?" she asked cautiously.

"Sure," Cat smiled and retreated slightly towards the edge of the bed, which Carly took as an invitation to perch on the other side of it.

"It turns out I was wrong after all," she brushed some locks from her face; Cat looked at her in confusion. "I know it was a long time ago and we've kinda put it behind us, but what I told you about Freddie? It's clear to me that he loves you in a way that he never loved me back when we were younger."

"Oh," Cat realised what she was talking about; suddenly the pain of the past flooded back into her chest as she thought on the brunette's taunts and claims, that she had acted on them and broken up with him, that it had led to so much sadness for her and to what Lindsey did to _him_. She really didn't want to dwell on it all so she hauled herself back to the present as Carly continued talking.

"He's crazy about you, Cat; make sure you never take it for granted – the way that I did," she finished sadly.

"I won't," the redhead promised her with a small smile.

"Well, goodnight," she got up to leave, hesitating as Cat wriggled out of bed, crossing the floor to pull her fellow cupcake lover into a hug.

"Goodnight Carly," she whispered.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading and a special thank you to Pbow who has become something of a consultant for me on the workings of Hollywood. For those who are interested, the out-takes/blooper chapter for **_**A Place to Call Home**_** is also up. And for anyone who can't place the teachers – Mr Allen was from **_**Who Did it To Trina**_**, Chris form **_**A Film by Dale Squires**_**, Marty from **_**Tori the Zombie**_** and Tilda from **_**The Slap Fight**_**. PD.**


	2. Chapter 2: Who Did It to Trina?

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to chapter 2 of this little story. My thanks, as always, to everyone who read and reviewed chapter 1.**

**klausgirl4055 and beverlie4055 - thank you.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 - had Marissa caught them... hmm, she's a _little_ more relaxed than in canon, in part because of Freddie's move out and her not wanting that to happen again (given his options in going elsewhere - Cat's, Beck's, Jade's, maybe to the Vegas'; he could happily leave and not come back - plus she, grudgingly, does approve of Cat even if she doesn't want them being that intimate under her roof). As for more opportunities, he now has a couple at least so hopefully his career will begin to advance.**

**Challenge King - as above about Marissa; she's a little calmer and doesn't want to risk pushing Freddie away. Mr Valentine is looking out for his baby girl, though again he and his wife both approve of Freddie. Carly - did she really mess up? They were 14 when Freddie left so, while she did take him for granted, mess up may be a little strong.**

**Martial arts student - the only person responsible for Lindsey's actions are Lindsey but Cat's thinking was along the lines of a row of dominoes - one toppled and the rest followed.**

**Darck Ben - I'm not familiar with that show.**

**Pbow - I'm glad that you thought I handled it well. Rest assured, a spanner or two will be thrown into the works before long.**

**SeddieHeartLand - it's how Freddie feels. He loves Cat and was happy with how their first time together went, especially comparing it to his previous experiences. Sam/Brad - well it's nice to have someone who's a little more than an OC, even if not much more - and his culinary skills will certainly endear him to her.**

**Ok, that's it so on with the show.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Who Did it to Trina?

_Tilda's Film Class, Hollywood Arts High School,_

_Wednesday, 6__th__ July 2011_.

Freddie's mind was miles from the classroom; Sam smirked her approval as she watched him doodling on his notepad while the teacher discussed the subject with them. The blonde received a sharp nudge from the brunette to her other side and turned back to the front, trying to refocus on the class as she really _was_ trying to do her best – and actually found most of the stuff that they were doing quite interesting.

On Freddie's other side, Cat also listened attentively, making as many notes as she could from the talk. The little redhead continued to scribble things down, intent on sharing them with her unusually distracted boyfriend at the end of the class, hoping that he wouldn't get caught out. However, the teacher herself had noticed the boy's inattentiveness.

"Freddie!" she shouted. The boy's consciousness yanked back to the room; he straightened a little and looked at the teacher. From the corner of his eye he could see Sam grinning in amusement at the fact that he'd been caught in _her_ traditional pastime of zoning out while Jade spun around in her seat and smirked at him too.

"I know that you've taken some of these classes already over the last couple of years ago – and that you used to produce a webshow – with these young ladies," she inclined her head towards the Seattleite girls, "but if you're going to be here then I need to ask you to _pay attention_," she concluded irritably.

"Sorry," the boy mumbled a little sheepishly; the teacher nodded.

"Now that _everyone_ is listening," she continued grumpily, "as I was saying…"

"I'm impressed," Sam teased gently as they left the room after the conclusion of the segment, "Mr Perfect Grades, Perfect Attendance and Always Listening is actually human. I'm proud of you Fredward," she laughed, slipping her right arm around him (Cat was on the boy's right and held his right hand in her left).

"Why _weren't_ you listening?" Carly was a little shorter with her friend.

"A lot of it is what she said," the boy disclosed. "I know all this stuff anyway so she isn't teaching _me_ anything new right now. I guess I just got bored and drifted off a little."

"I think we all know who he was thinking about, don't we Cat?" Jade piped up from behind them; the shorter girl's face turned a similar colour to her hair at the allegation.

"So where are we headed?" she asked, eager to change the subject.

_Black box theatre._

Tori, who, along with her group, was under the tutelage of Mr Allen, was preparing to direct a project for the first time, was walking around the stage, which had been set up to look like kitchen of a ranch house. Trina sat on stage at table, while André, Robbie and Sinjin were also on set.

Sam, Freddie, Cat, Jade and Carly walked into the theatre, having been invited by their friend to watch the final rehearsal.

"Uh, what's Trina doing here?" Sam asked thoughtfully, turning to Freddie. "I thought you said she wasn't doing this course."

"She isn't," the brown-haired actor confirmed, "but maybe they've brought in some 'volunteers' for parts in the plays given how small the groups are and how many people want the chance to direct," he suggested before heading across the theatre and towards the stage and Tori so that he could get her answer to the question.

The half-Latina, however, was too busy making sure that everything was ready for the performance and didn't acknowledge her friends' arrival as she read off her checklist and looked through the script again.

"Alright," she called and he hopped back a little from the loud cry. "Let's try this again. From the top of page six, aaaand Sinjin stop sniffing me…" she complained as the boy loitered behind her; Freddie frowned at the dirty blond while Carly and Sam raised their eyebrows, both at his reaction and at the odd boy's actions to begin with, "aaaand action," she concluded.

"Alright," André, on-stage with Robbie, was trying to pacify the dark-haired boy, "don't get all mad. I was just sayin' that..."

"I know what you were saying!" the curly-haired teen countered.

"Kevin..." the dreadlocked teen tried again.

"If you think my adopted sister's a freaky weirdo then why don't you just say so?!" the ventriloquist demanded.

"Your sister's a freaky weirdo," the musician complied.

"I can't believe you'd say that!"

"But you just told me to..." his co-star countered as they began to argue.

"Get outta here! Get outta my ranch house!" Robbie yelled, pointing to the back of the set.

"Oh come on man!...Oh man!"

"Get out of here! Get out!"

André left with a parting shot. "She's a weirdo!"

"Get out of here, freeloader!" he snapped before turning to the elder sister. "I'm sorry, Mandy. I thought he was my friend, but anyone who'd call my adopted sister a weird..."

Trina, however, had her cell phone pressed to her ear. "Yep, yeah, shut up a second," she muttered at him before returning her attention to the phone. "Hi, can I get a five o'clock appointment for a foot bleaching?" Tori looked up in exasperation, caught Freddie's eye and pulled a pathetic expression at his sympathetic look.

Robbie, however, was confused by the line; he scanned his script before turning to the director. "Tori, is that in the rewrite?"

"No, it is not," she replied in annoyance. "Trina, we're in the middle of a scene."

"Yeah, well that doesn't help whiten my feet, does it?" her sister told her. She put the phone back against her face and addressed them again. "No, no, it has to be at five... and don't gimme that big sweaty girl. I want Foon-Yi."

Tori sighed in resignation. "Alright, guys, let's take five minutes."

"Ten," Trina demanded.

"Five!" the younger Vega snapped back.

"Look, can you just put Foon-Yi on the phone?" the diva demanded.

"Hey..." Tori challenged, walking over to her.

"Busy," she whispered back; Tori snatched the phone from her.

"Bye Foon-Yi."

"You just hung up on the best foot-bleacher in all of Beverly H..." a scandalised Trina lamented.

"Can you help me?" the younger teen pleaded. "Could you do that for me please, as my sister, can you help me here?" Sam, who by now had reached Freddie's side, smiled broadly at the exchange, thinking that it was rather reminiscent of the minor spats that she and Carly would have on occasion when coexisting got a little fraught between them.

"It's just a stupid little play," she returned. "Why are you so amped?"

"Oh, come on, like you weren't amped the first time you got to direct a play."

"You look bloated," Trina sympathised. "Have you been eating a lot of salt?"

"Listen!" Tori had had enough. "I'd really like to do well on this course, with these movie people watching, so I would appreciate it if you would help me out here..."

Trina's phone rang again; she turned to it, ignoring her sister. "Ooo good, it's Foon-Yi." She answered. "Hey, Foony girl... I got some dingy feet for ya..."

"Sorry, you guys," Tori looked helplessly at the male co-stars.

"Ah, it's cool," her musician friend shrugged.

Robbie who, much to Sam's disgust, was now holding Rex again, dismissed, "No big."

Sam, walking over with Freddie to see the director, piped up, "Uh... I gotta ask... I mean, don't take this the wrong way..."

"Oh my God, I do look bloated?" Tori asked in panic.

"No," the blonde denied, "I was _going_ to ask why you cast Trina as the lead girl?"

"Especially when she's not in the programme," Carly added, joining the gathering.

"Especially when she can't act," Sam was somewhat less charitable.

"SAM!" Carly was horrified at her insulting Tori's sister.

"No, she's right. I didn't want to," the half-Latina began to explain before turning to Freddie. "You know my Cuddle-Me Cathy doll that I love and that I've had since I was five years old?"

"No, I have no idea what you're talking about; you've never mentioned that to me," he countered.

"Oh..." her face fell a little, "well, Trina kidnapped her and she wouldn't give her back unless..."

"Unless you gave her the lead," the boy finished.

"Yep."

"That's janked up," Sam complained.

"Yeah. But uhhh... Don't you think you're a little 'old' to be playing with dolls?" Robbie asked, seemingly oblivious to the puppet on his hand.

"Right?" Rex agreed.

"I know," the puppet-master laughed.

Sam looked helplessly at Freddie; he raised his hands. "Just... don't say anything; believe me I've tried."

"Okay, we're all good. Foon-Yi can take me at five," Trina announced, under the misguided belief that the others actually cared about her feet.

"Well, that's fantastic news," her sister's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"You go to Foon-Yi?" Sinjin asked the eighteen-year-old in surprise.

"Yeah, she bleaches my feet."

"She bleaches _my_ feet!" the dirty-blond informed her enthusiastically.

"Ah! No way!"

"Oh my God!"

"Sinjin!" Tori bellowed, livid at yet another distraction to her rehearsal.

"Crossing off," he returned to his position.

"Heeeeyy, Trina," Rex called seedily as the girl began to head back to her position.

"What?" she demanded.

"You wanna know my two favourite things about you?"

Highly offended, the girl swung her arm, slapping both Rex and Robbie.

"Ah! Trina!" the bespectacled teen complained.

"You don't know _what_ I was gonna say!" the puppet complained.

"Shut it, puppet." She approached Tori and the others. "Ah, so listen... about your script..."

"Yeah?" Tori groaned, fearing another rewrite in the offing despite how close it was to the first performance.

"Why did you change all my lines to alien words?"

"Well, it's not 'cuz I think you're a bad actor," the younger girl began.

"Really?" she challenged; Tori looked uncomfortable but didn't answer. "So can't I say some of my lines in American?" Carly rolled her eyes at this, drawing a slightly confused look from Sam.

"Well, I just felt like... You're such an amazing actor... You don't even need real words to be great."

This placated Trina. "Yeeeaaaah, I get it," she smiled, ego suitably massaged.

"Uh uh! Say it in alien," her sister urged. Trina frowned but spouted a few made-up words. "Atta girl," the younger Vega nodded encouragingly.

_Valentine residence, Hollywood Hills_

Wanting a change from food prepared using Mrs Benson's chosen ingredients, Sam happily seconded Cat's offer for the quartet to decamp to her home, rather than Freddie's, after their classes finished for the day.

"I hope you'll be listening a bit more in class tomorrow, Freddie," Carly complained hotly.

"Yes Freddie," Sam's tone was gentler, slightly mocking the taller girl's, "you need to listen to all these things that you've already done."

Cat giggled as Carly glared at her housemate; Freddie turned to his former crush with a patient expression.

"I _will_ be doing, especially as we have Tilda again and she'll be going into a bit more detail than she did today. I really _do_ want to be picking up a few more tricks and techniques so don't worry, Carls, I will _listen_," he finished with a grin.

"What's for dinner?" Sam turned to her hostess, "I'm starving!"

Knowing the girl well enough not to remind her that she had eaten more than any of them had at lunch, Cat simply replied, "Uh, I was going to put a pizza together."

"_Don't_ ask Freddie to help if you want it finished tonight," the blonde warned with a bit of a laugh.

"Y'know, I don't _have_ to cook for you when we're at my place," he reminded her warningly.

"Oh you know I love you really," she replied hurriedly, drawing a smile and a nod from her friend.

"What time is Tori's play tomorrow?" Carly asked.

"I think it's around 3, so once we've finished for the day we'll be able to go and see it," Cat informed her; Freddie nodded his confirmation of the timing and the plan.

"I'm sure she could have found a different way of getting her doll back than letting Trina into the play," Sam mused, before throwing a glance at an uncomfortable-looking Freddie. "What are you thinking?" she pried.

"Trina," he revealed. "Look, she and I are good friends and I _know_ that it bothers her that people just dismiss her as untalented and a bit of a joke…"

"Well she _does _bring a lot of it on herself," the blonde interrupted ungraciously.

"I'm not saying she doesn't, just that it bothers her; she wants _so much_ to succeed that it turns her into… well, the Trina that you see. The _real_ her, underneath, has a lot of vulnerability and insecurity that she tries to hide and I think she buries it by ignoring the critics and 100% believing in herself – sometimes to her own detriment," he thought back on the Big Showcase and how the elder Vega had been completely ignored after it while other students were receiving interest and invites from talent agencies.

Sam bit her tongue as she reflected on his words; she had displayed her _own_ insecurities and vulnerabilities to him after everyone else abandoned her when she went to juvie. She felt a momentary drop of sympathy for the diva as she began to appreciate that, though the circumstances may be different, it appeared that some of the fears and feelings were the same, though it didn't stop her feeling that the girl was just ill-suited for the life she seemed to be trying to carve out for herself.

_Tilda's Film Class, Hollywood Arts High School,_

_Thursday, 7__th__ July 2011_.

True to his word Freddie was fully focussed on the subject matter for the second full day of the course, impressing the teacher with his contributions and observations, though he made sure not to volunteer _every_ answer, so as not to annoy his classmates too much by dominating conversations.

Sam also supplied a number of answers and the two of them were among the teens to volunteer themselves to lead sub-groups. The class spent the rest of the morning working through pre-written scripts and acting them out while looking at different camera lenses, angles and distances to see the effect that it had on the overall shot. The early afternoon was spent with the scenes being shown to the rest of the group and the students discussing what had been shown and the pros and cons of the different choices.

The class ended around 2:30. As Sam was hungry again she talked Carly and Freddie into going for a quick snack before they saw Tori's play. Jade demanded coffee and headed to Jet Brew while Cat thought a good use of the near half-hour at her disposal was to make a trip to the costume room to get a few more ideas for her forthcoming internship before she made her way to the theatre. On arrival the girl texted Jade, noting that the auditorium was rapidly filling and urging her to hurry up to ensure that she found a seat.

_Black Box theatre, Hollywood Arts High School,_

* * *

_The Slap Mobile_

_ToriVega: First play I ever directed. Teacher sitting by me. My feet are sweaty._

_Feeling: Butterflies._

_FreddieB – you'll do great._

_Puckett_S _at_ Twitflash – you'd do better if you fired Trina._

* * *

Tori sat in the second row, next to Mr Allen, with Jade and Cat behind her. Having arrived just before the start, the others had had to find seats on the other side of the audience; Freddie was in the front row, flanked by Carly and Sam, with Lane next to Carly in the aisle seat. Slightly to their surprise Alyssa had come with her boyfriend specifically for the performance; she and Beck sat a couple of rows behind the former iCarly trio.

"Alright, don't get all mad; I was just sayin' that..." André began to defend himself.

"I know what you were saying," Robbie replied in affront.

"Kev! I just..."

"Look, if you think my sister's a freaky weirdo, then why don't you just say so?!"

A nervous Tori whispered to her teacher, "You liking it so far?" while Trina rattled off a few more 'alien' words.

"Your sister's a freaky weirdo," André confirmed.

"I can't believe you'd say that!" Robbie fired back.

"But you just told me..."

"Get outta here! Get outta my ranch house!"

Cat was noisily working her way through a bag of sweets while they watched; Jade's impatience with her activity had finally reached boiling point. "Don't chew like that," she snapped, causing the cupcake lover to begin to eat a little more daintily.

"I thought he was my friend," Robbie told Trina after the musician had left the scene. "But anyone who'd call my adopted sister a 'weirdo' is no friend of mine."

Trina replied with a few more alien words.

"Aw Mandy, you know I can't understand you... Not with your speech impediment." She continued to gibber as Tori looked at Mr Allen's notes, trying to decipher them. "Ahhh, you're... you're hungry!" he guessed. "You're frightened! You're sticky?! You're Canadian!" Freddie grinned and threw a glance over his shoulder to Beck, who looked unimpressed at the shot against him and his country. "You like my pants. Ohhh I don't understand!"

He got up from the table and walked away sadly; she rose to her feet and gestured towards him. "You want me to come closer?" he asked; she nodded and took his head in her hands. "Whoa Mandy! Wait. What is... wha-... Oh... Ohhhhhhh... I can 'hear' your thoughts!" he gasped.

"Tori..." Jade whispered.

"Yeah?" Tori turned to the mean girl.

"You wrote this play?"

"Yeah. You like it?"

Jade declined to answer, taking another sip of coffee instead and drawing a frown from her rival.

"What do you mean you're not the same as me?" Robbie challenged, making sense of his sister's thoughts. "You're not of this earth?! What does that mean?! You're... ?! You're from another planet?! I don't believe you!"

Trina gibbered again.

"Oh, c'mon! If you're an alien, why would you pretend to be my sister, here in this simple ranch house?!"

After a few more non-words from Trina, Robbie turned to her. "Okay. Okay, then prove it!" he demanded.

"You ready for this?" Tori turned to Jade. "Yeah, get excited."

Sam, meanwhile, leaned towards Freddie. "I hate to speak badly of Tori," she began uncharacteristically delicately and in a low whisper, "but this is pretty lame really."

Trina rose into the air; the audience 'oooh'ed as she began to 'fly'.

"How did she get her feet so white?" Cat asked Jade in wonder.

"Well done, Foon-Yi," Sinjin smiled from his position on the gantry.

"Oh my God! Mandy! You _are_ an alien! Oh my gosh! How come you never told me..." Robbie gabbled; further questioning was curtailed, however, as one of the ropes suspending the sister snapped and she began to fly helplessly around the set.

"Help!" she cried.

Sam's eyes lit up. "Ok, _now_ it's interesting," she enthused; Carly frowned at her relish.

"Get her down!" Freddie urged, getting to his feet and rushing on to the set to see if he could help.

"Stop the play! Hurry!" Tori pleaded, scampering up to join them.

"Well since we're studying film, I guess someone should get this on video," Jade observed drily, pulling out her phone.

"Grab the light thingy!" Tori urged her older sibling; Trina did so and managed to steady herself a little, having already demolished a lot of the set.

"Thank you for reminding me about coming to this play," Jade told her red-haired best friend with a smile.

"Their poor ranch house," the kind-hearted girl covered her eyes at the destruction. "Please tell me it's over."

The light fitting broke and Trina crashed to the ground; the impact caused the already unsteady walls to fall inwards, landing on top of her.

"It's over," the black-haired girl informed Cat with unnecessary relish.

"Get this wall off of me," Trina pleaded. "Come on, help me!"

"Lift it!" Tori urged as Freddie and Lane tried to rescue the injured girl.

A couple of minutes later the scenery had been moved and Trina extricated; Lane turned to the blonde teen, who had eventually gone to the stage and assisted Freddie in moving things.

"I need to take Trina to the nurse – maybe to the hospital; wait in my office. I want to talk to you when I get back."

Sam shrugged as he walked off. "Ok," she asked Freddie, "what's _that_ all about?"

"I don't know," he admitted, "but, knowing Lane it won't be good – even after he kept an eye out for Jade and I earlier this week."

"You still don't trust him?" Jade, who had joined them once the clean-up was well underway, asked in surprise.

"No."

"Why not?" Carly asked.

"I'll explain on the way."

"Where to?"

"Lane's office; I'm not going to just leave Sam alone with him."

Sam chuckled. "Freddie, I'm a big girl; I can look after myself."

"I know, but I want to be there to see what goes on; I couldn't leave anyway. _I'm your ride_, remember," he smirked at her.

Sam chuckled again, this time in embarrassment. "Right," she agreed.

The pair, joined by Carly, Cat, Tori, Jade and Robbie, who had collected Rex by this point, entered office. Jade took a seat in his wicker chair.

"I've always wanted to try this," she explained, seeing her classmates' confused looks, "it's actually quite comfortable."

"Poor Trina," Tori lamented. "I just don't understand what went wrong."

"Don't worry," Cat tried to reassure her. "One time my brother was in Vegas and he fell out of a fourth storey hotel window and landed on the roof of a shuttle bus."

"Sweetie? That's what messed him up isn't it?" Freddie pointed out.

His girlfriend turned sombre. "Yeah," she confirmed morosely.

Jade realised some of their group were missing as she looked around. "Hey, where's André?"

"Oh, he left to meet Keeko after we were done rescuing Trina and the play sort of… ended," Freddie supplied with a regretful glance in Tori's direction; her concern for her sister was suppressing the misery and frustration she also felt at having her debut production end in such a fiasco.

"Keeko?" Carly wondered aloud.

"Yeah, this girl he met at B.F. Wangs last night. He says she's all 'exotic and Polynesian'."

"I love B.F. Wangs!" Cat piped up. "Have you guys tried their bang bang noodles?!" She looked around, surprised at the general lack of reaction. "No?" She looked at Freddie. "We've never been there?" When he shook his head slightly she continued, "Oh, we need to go there sometime; it's good," she finished with a decisive nod.

"What's so funny?" Sam, who had been eyeing the couple's exchange with a smile, asked a sniggering Jade, who was staring intently at her phone.

"Are you laughing at that video of Trina getting hurt?" a furious Tori demanded.

"No," she argued defensively. "I'm laughing at the comments."

Carly was scandalised. "You posted it online?!"

"A little bit," she mumbled.

"Let me see?" Sam got to her feet; however Lane walked in before Jade could show it to her.

"How's Trina?! Is she all right?!" Tori began urgently.

"How's the ranch house?" Cat asked.

"Trina's banged up but she's gonna be fine... nothing too serious," the counsellor assured her.

"Oh, thank God," Tori sighed.

"So, why are we all here?" Freddie prompted.

"I don't know why _you're _all here… but I want to talk to Sam because what happened to Trina WASN'T an accident," he began to explain. "This is the gimbal that connected Trina's harness to the steel wires that made her fly. See this? Someone cut a notch here, and that's what made Trina fall."

Sam raised her eyes in surprise at the news – and that the counsellor seemed to be so quick to jump to a conclusion.

"So... you're saying it was..." Robbie prompted.

"Sab-o-tage?" his puppet concluded.

"Yeah, and Sam here is our prime suspect," the adult rounded on the blonde.

"What?" she asked, feeling surprise that he'd be so public with his allegation.

"WHAT?" echoed Freddie, though his tone was filled with fury and he leapt to his feet to confront Lane.

"She's the prime suspect because she has a history of assaulting people," he insisted.

"You're accusing her with absolutely _no_ evidence of any wrongdoing on her part," the teenager countered angrily.

"She's been in juvie for assault!"

"She's done _nothing_ like this before and certainly nothing since her release!"

The blonde looked a little guilty at this vehement defence as she recalled her beat-downs of Lindsey, Steven and the panda but managed to straighten her face moments later, not wanting to show any weakness to her accuser.

"Anyway," Lane continued, "I've made my decision; for the good of the school and the safety of the other participants we're removing you from the programme pending the outcome of an investigation," he addressed the horrified teen.

"You can't!" she cried.

"The decision's made," his tone was final.

"She was with us before the play," Carly spoke up, gesturing to herself and Freddie. "We left Tilda's class at 2:30, went for food and didn't get to the theatre until just before the play started."

"And you've been by her side _all day_?" Lane challenged.

"Almost all of it," the brunette insisted, "aside from bathroom breaks."

"She probably did it during one of them then," he shrugged.

"Fine, I admit it; it was me," Freddie shot; all eyes turned to him in amazement. "I did it, I cut the gimbal. Ok, I get that I have to leave the programme, Lane, and if there's anything you want to do to further punish me you can tell me once I'm back here in September."

With the room suitably stunned into silence, the boy stormed out of the counsellor's office and headed into the main hall.

He kept going until he reached the lockers, at which point he took a couple of deep breaths. When they failed to calm him he punched a random locker, making a small dent in it and releasing some of the annoyance he felt at what he'd had to do.

"But I'm _certain_ that Sam didn't do this, she _wouldn't_, she _couldn't_," he told himself, "and I _had_ to defend her." That he was still Sam's ride home meant that he needed to wait for her anyway.

Much to his surprise, a few moments later Jade left the counsellor's office; she was wearing something closer to a smile than her usual smirk, though her body language still screamed annoyance as she joined him at the lockers.

"He didn't buy it, you know," she told him, "not for a second. He seemed _a little_ more convinced when I told him that it was _me_ who hurt Trina."

"What? Why?" he asked.

"Because I don't like her," she grinned; Freddie frowned his that's-not-what-I-mean look at her so she continued with a shrug, "Same reason as you; someone who's a friend of mine and who didn't do anything wrong was going to take the fall for this and I didn't want to see that happen – so I told him it was me and I was quitting." She copied him in leaning against the lockers and the pair sighed in unison.

Freddie closed his eyes as he processed what the girl had done but, before either of them could say anything else the door opened again. This time Carly joined them, explaining breathlessly that _she_ too had confessed to sabotaging Trina's rigging and had recognised that she had to quit the programme as a result.

"I'm _sure_ that he didn't buy _that_," Jade observed; the pale Seattleite grinned sheepishly.

"I think the better party is out here anyway," she smiled at her friends and brushed a few strands of hair out of her face.

The door clicked again and the trio looked over to see the next person to come out of the office; it was Cat. The red velvet-haired girl threw her hands in the air, smiled broadly and yelled, "I'm Spartacus!" as she walked towards them.

"Ok, can you all come back in please?" The quartet looked over to see a tired-looking Lane leaning against the frame of his office door. Somewhat reluctantly they filed back inside and surveyed their perplexed-looking friends. "Alright, I _may_ have been a little hasty jumping to conclusions that it was Sam," he conceded, "but it did make sense," he argued. "It's getting late so I want to see all of you in here tomorrow morning before the course starts and we'll get to the bottom of it then. Meanwhile, you should all think on what you saw happen here before the play that might explain it – and I'm going to investigate some more," he glared around the room, eyes lingering on Sam for slightly longer than was necessary, and walked out.

"I'm hungry," the blonde announced, turning to her friends. "Anyone for dinner?"

"Oh yay, B.F. Wangs?" Cat suggested.

"Sweetie, I'm not sure that André would like us crashing his date," Freddie observed.

"Oh right," she acknowledged, "I _knew_ I was thinking about it for a reason."

"I'm in the mood for Italian," Sam declared.

"I know a place," the former tech producer nodded, "are you guys joining us?" he invited the others graciously.

"I need to get Trina home," Tori observed regretfully, "next time?" They nodded.

Jade declined as well, saying that she needed to get home; with the two girls declining, Robbie too decided not to accompany them so it was just the four of them who headed to the restaurant.

_Benson residence, Hollywood Hills_

The teenagers left the restaurant after dinner (Freddie was a little perturbed at Sam's lack of table etiquette while she demolished her lasagne but elected not to comment, focussing instead on his own meal and having a fun time with his girlfriend and his friends). Cat and Carly went back to the Valentines' home while he and Sam went back to his home. They discussed some of the day's events with Marissa before she went to bed; after relaxing and unwinding from the day's troubles by watching a few clips on _Splashface_, the two teens decided to do likewise. Sam's mood had seemed to improve a little as the evening wore on though she was still a little distracted by her woes from the day.

"Hey," she knocked softly on Freddie's partially open door and looked around; the boy was lying in bed reading a book. He smiled at her and set it down on his nightstand.

"Hey Sam, come in."

"Thanks," she padded across the floor and perched on the edge of his bed. "I'm never going to leave it behind, am I?" she asked suddenly after a long and slightly painful silence. Seeing how comfortable the bed looked she shuffled up to lie down next to him before elaborating, "my past, I mean," and she turned to face him again. "The second something bad happens, I'm the one that everyone suspects. For the rest of my life, what I did when I was _thirteen_ is going to haunt me."

"Probably," he shrugged, propping himself up on one elbow and facing the blonde; Sam looked surprised at his agreement of her observation but he continued, "just like I'm always going to be someone who was raped – it's a part of my past and something that I can't change. All I could do was _finally_ make peace with it and accept that it's always going to be there, but that I don't have to carry on being a victim."

"But this is different," she insisted, "you _were_ the victim, I was the perp; people are _always_ going to prejudge me for my past crimes."

"I hope not," her friend replied vehemently. "Look Sam," he wriggled from under his sheet and rested his back against the headboard; the blonde did likewise and he slipped an arm around her, "you're one of the few people that I trust _completely_ which, after what's happened to me, _still_ isn't too easy for me. I _know_ that you'd never do that to Trina – or anybody… who didn't deserve it," he added with a sly grin, drawing a chuckle from the girl, "which is one of the reasons why I was willing to take the fall… so you didn't have to – and, for what it's worth, I don't care what _anyone_ else thinks about it – I trust you and I'll _always_ stick up for you and defend you."

She gave him a warm smile. "Thanks Freddie, I _really_ appreciate what you and the others did for me today; I just really wish people didn't _have_ to."

"You _have_ changed, Sam. Maybe you'll need to prove it to some people for a while yet," he added, "even if you shouldn't _have_ to but once people know the real you, they'll believe you – and that's why _none_ of us were going to let you take the blame for this."

Sam flung her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. "Thanks Freddie," she repeated before kissing his cheek, "goodnight," she smiled at him and left for the guest room in somewhat higher spirits, closing his door quietly behind her; Freddie smiled before slipping back under the sheets, turning the bedside light off and settling down to a peaceful night's sleep.

_Hollywood Arts High School,_

_Friday, 8__th__ July 2011_.

To her surprise, Sam had _also_ had a restful slumber; knowing that her friends were there for her and would support her meant the world to the girl, much as her tough exterior might seek to hide such perceived vulnerabilities. Freddie headed to the bathroom before the meeting in Lane's office so the blonde was left alone near the lockers; she smiled as Jade approached, keeping as much attention as she could on her phone while making sure that she didn't walk into anything.

"Hey Jade, still looking at Trina's accident?"

"Yeah – and the comments. Did you see it last night?"

"Nah, Freddie said it would be mean and wrong to watch it so I haven't had a chance…"

The gothic teen cut her off, thrusting her pear-shaped phone under the blonde's nose and playing the clip; Sam began to laugh as the diva flailed pathetically around the stage, wreaking havoc and carnage on the décor.

The two girls were still laughing when Freddie, Cat and Carly joined them; the brunette made her disapproval clear when she spotted the clip.

"Sam! You got into enough trouble over this without _doing_ anything," she reminded her, "it's probably best _not_ to laugh at Trina's misfortune."

"Spoil my fun," the reformed hoodlum grumbled.

_Lane's office_

"Thank you for all coming promptly," the counsellor began once Tori, Freddie, Robbie (with Rex), Cat, Carly, Sam and Jade had assembled, "now, according to Trina, you were all with her at some point just before the show."

"Oh come on! Nobody here would do that to Trina," the girl's sister insisted; she was irritated at having to come so early on what she felt was a fool's errand, especially having had the chance to sleep on it and reflect on the previous day's events.

"Except you," Jade spoke up; all eyes were trained on her in surprise, none more so than the half-Latina's.

"Wh... me?!" she floundered.

"Who me? Why I would never harm my dear sister Trina! Not me, sweet Sally Peaches!" Jade adopted her oft-used southern belle voice.

"I don't talk like that!" Tori snapped back.

"Whatever. I saw what happened," the gothic girl continued calmly.

"When?" Lane pressed.

"Before the play," the girl elaborated. "She and Trina were fighting."

"We were arguing," Tori countered.

"Yeah? And do all your arguments end in 'I'm gonna kill you'?"

All the gathered, bar Freddie, gasped; he simply looked from one girl to the other with measured curiosity.

"Oh don't gasp," the brunette demanded. "I didn't _really_ threaten her."

"Sounded like it to me," Jade returned.

"Okay," Lane sought to move things along, "why don't you tell us exactly what you saw and heard."

"Sure," she agreed. "Ah, let's see... It was about twenty minutes before the play started and I walked into the black box 'cuz Robbie owed me ten bucks and I wanted it back."

_Black Box theatre_

"_I called for Robbie. And I saw Tori and Trina fighting."_

_In an angry voice, Tori yelled, "Trina! Trina!"_

"_What?" her sister asked disinterestedly._

"_I gave you the lead in my play, now gimme my stinking Cuddle-Me Cathy doll back!"_

"_Okay okay, just a sec, relax... here," and she handed her the doll._

_Tori still wasn't satisfied. "Where is her bonnet?!" she fumed._

_The diva produced the item. "This thing?"_

"_What'd you do to it?!" Tori was angry at its condition._

"_Ahhhh," Trina sounded nervous, "I might have blown my nose into it."_

"_Ooooohhhh you filthy skunk bag! I am gonna kill you so hard."_

"_Hey Tori," Sinjin approached her, "I brought you some pansies." Tori slugged him and stormed out, walking past Jade as she reached the exit of the theatre. "Why can't I be pretty like you?" she lamented._

_Lane's office_

"That's not even _close_ to how it happened!" Tori argued.

"It's how I remember it," Jade retorted calmly.

"Yeah 'cuz you're demented."

"Ooo, so you think I'm pretty and demented?" the mean girl smiled; Sam looked from one to the other for a couple of seconds before muttering,

"Nah."

Freddie, sat beside her, turned towards her with a knowing grin.

"I never said you were pretty and I never 'punched' Sinjin!" the director insisted.

"But you admit you threatened Trina," Jade leapt on the loophole in the protests.

"No!"

"Wait... I did kinda hear you tell Trina you were gonna kill her," Robbie spoke up.

"So did I..." Cat added, causing everyone to turn to her in surprise, "but if you're gonna try to kill me, too," she continued hurriedly, "then all I heard was pretty music. La la la la la."

Sam looked from the redhead to Freddie before shaking her head as he smiled, a smile that mixed goofy lovesickness with helplessness. The blonde just settled back in her chair, pleased that her friend had someone who made him so happy.

"Two witnesses," Jade confronted Tori.

"Oh come on," Freddie snapped out of his reverie, "Tori would never do that to Trina."

"No, I might've said something that kinda sounded threatening, but I didn't really mean..." she began; Jade cut her off.

"So you threatened her, and then somebody just happened to cut the gimbal on her harness."

"I didn't punch Sinjin, and I'd never sabotage Trina's gimbal!"

"Yes, you did!" Jade fired.

"No, why would I... why..." she floundered, "what you said you saw doesn't make any sense."

"Sinjin _did_ say last night that he thought you broke his jaw," Lane added all of a sudden.

"What?" she asked in amazement.

"Yes, last night as I was leaving," the counsellor recounted.

"_You know where nurse Kotter is?_" he'd asked.

"_No, why?_"

"_I think Tori broke my jaw._"

The gathered students all turned to look at her.

"Dun, dun, dunnnnn," Jade hummed dramatically.

"La, la, la, la, la, la," Cat added nervously.

"What did he say ACTUALLY happened?" Freddie asked.

"Well, I asked what happened and he said that Tori punched him in the jaw…"

Jade pointed at Tori. "Ha!" she cried triumphantly.

"But he said it was an accident," the man concluded.

It was Tori's turn to point at the other girl. "Ha!" she retorted.

"Bleeeeghhhhh!" Jade snarled.

"Leaaaghhh!" her rival returned. "Okay..." she took a calming breath, "do you guys wanna hear what really happened between me and Trina before the play started?"

"Tell your story, Tori," Lane invited.

Cat giggled. "'Tori's story'... that's so rhymie."

"Okay," the half-Latina began. "So it was uhhh... Twenty minutes before the play... I heard Jade come in, yelling for Robbie."

_Black Box theatre_

"_Blerrrrggghhh! Robbie! Me want Robbie! Blerrrrggghhh!_"

Back in the office, Jade interrupted, "Oh so I'm a monster now?"

"Let her tell it how she remembers it," Lane demanded.

"Thank you.

_So yes, I was arguing with Trina, 'cuz she wouldn't give me back my Cuddle-Me Cathy doll._"_ To Trina, she said, _"_Trina, c'mon, please?_"

"_What?_"

"_I gave you the lead role in my play... so I could I please have my doll back, please?_"

"_All right,_" _her sister relented. _"_Just a sec..._" _she collected it from her bag. _"_Here._"

"_Awww, thank you so much. Uh, I'm pretty sure she had a bonnet._"

_Trina handed it to her_."_Ah, whatever. Take it._"

"_Thank you. Do you know what happened to it?_"_ the younger Vega asked._

"_Yeah, I blew some snot into it._"

_Tori burst out laughing. _"_Oh my God, stop making me laugh or I'm gonna kill you. Well, thanks for giving me my cuddle me Cathy back. I'm so happy!_" _She threw her hands into the air and hit Sinjin_.

"_Aah,_" _he yelped, holding his nose._

"_Oh, my gosh. I'm so sorry!_" _the girl apologised._

"_Yeah I'm gonna go put my alien makeup on._"_ She walked towards the back of the theatre, coming across monster-Jade._ "_Move,_" _and pushed the girl aside._

"_Blerrrrrgggghhh!_" _she cried as her coffee spilt._

"_It's not my fault you spilled your coffee. Klutz._"_ And with that Trina left the theatre, leaving behind an angry, glowering Jade_.

Sat in the office, Jade had an issue with the story. "Okay, that's like the opposite of what really happened," she protested.

"That's _exactly_ what happened," Tori countered.

"Why not ask Sinjin what he remembered? He's more likely to be... objective than these two versions," Freddie reasoned.

Lane seemed open to the idea but Robbie spoke up hurriedly.

"Okay, hold on...Hooooold on. There is another person here who had a reason to get back at Trina."

"Who else had a motive to get back at Trina?" Lane asked curiously.

"Cat," he explained smugly.

Freddie immediately leapt to his feet, as did Sam; the pair rounded angrily on Robbie while the others looked curiously at the mild-mannered redhead.

"Hiiiiii," she smiled weakly.

"Cat?" Lane probed.

"Whaty?"

"Did you cut Trina's harness gimbal?"

"Noooooo. Why would I wanna hurt Trina?" she protested.

"You _did_ admit to it yesterday," the ventriloquist reminded them, "_and_ 'cuz of what happened between you two right before the play started."

"What happened?" the counsellor demanded.

"Well, um... Okay," Robbie began.

_Black box theatre_

"_Ummmm, it was an unusually windy day here in Los Angeles..._"

"Get to the point!" Freddie ordered, very close to losing the last of his patience with the boy.

"_Okay, uhhh, Tori had just accidentally whacked Sinjin in the jaw... And right about then, Cat was helping me with my costume and feeling my muscles._"

"Ok, now we KNOW this is bull," Freddie interjected.

"Just... let him finish," Lane requested, though privately he was inclined to agree.

"_When Trina walked by and said... _

'_Hey Robbie. Why don't you come backstage with me and, ah, help me do my makeup or... whatever.'_

'_You make me happy_,"_ Robbie replied_.

'_Why don't you just get outta here?!' Cat ordered the older girl._

'_Why don't you?!'_ _Trina shot back._

'_Ladies. Come on now. Look there's one of me... Two of you... And seven swinging days in the week.'_

'_He even makes math hot,_'_ Cat simpered._

'_Mmmhmm,_'_ the ventriloquist was enjoying himself_.

'_Robbie's mine!_'_ Trina insisted._

'_He loves me!_' _Cat argued._

_Trina flicked her head._

'_Ah! Ow! You thwacked my head! She thwacked my head! I'll get you for that, Trina Vega! I'll get you good!_'

_Lane's Office_

There was a palpable air of scepticism in the way people looked at Robbie after he finished his tale.

"What? That's how it happened," he protested.

"It is not!" Cat argued, turning pleadingly to her boyfriend.

"Robbie. Cat's been dating Freddie for like a year and a half almost. Why would she be going after a loser like you who plays with his puppet?" Sam asked.

"Thank you Sam for a... powerfully put point," Lane inclined his head towards the blonde, though he still had his suspicions about her. "Robbie, if you're going to make allegations about people then at least make them serious; we've wasted enough time already trying to get to the bottom of this."

"Okay, Cat... tell us what you remember," Lane invited.

"Actually..." Sam spoke up again, turning accusingly at the puppeteer, "when he's lying like that, it usually means that he has something to hide."

"Oh?" Lane encouraged her to continue.

"As you implied yesterday I have _some_ experience of guilty people and they tend to lie through their teeth," she explained.

"What are you saying?" Robbie demanded.

"Trina insulted your puppet, pissed you off so _you_ did it to her."

"That's not true," he argued weakly, looking around at the others, "I'd never..." he chuckled weakly, "Lane, don't you think some of this rigging is kinda old?" he asked hurriedly.

"Yeah," the man was forced to concede.

"Right? I think it was just an accident," the bespectacled boy insisted.

"A terrible, hilarious accident… that now has twenty-six thousand views," Jade smirked, eyeing her phone.

"So not sab-o-tage, definitely not," Rex backed up his handler.

"Hmm, it does look as though it was cut though. I guess I still need to investigate this further," Lane observed.

"You do that," Sam humoured him, "but _there_ is your prime suspect," she stared challengingly at Robbie, so seemed to be crumbling under the intensity of her gaze, making it obvious, even to the counsellor who so suspected _her_ that he was the real culprit.

"Robbie?" he began.

"It was Rex!" he insisted.

"What?" the puppet challenged. "What are you blaming me for?"

"Trina slapped him after the rehearsal a couple of days ago and… and he didn't like it."

"Shut UP!" the wild-haired mannequin demanded.

"Ok, the rest of you can go," Lane told the group. "I'm sorry for suspecting you – especially you Sam."

The blonde shrugged. "You're not the first person to assume the worst of me," she replied sullenly.

"But you _should _know better than to do so," Freddie observed, increasing Lane's discomfort.

"Come on, we've got to get to class," Sam tugged his sleeve and led him out of the room, where they caught up with Carly, Cat and Jade.

"So that's Robbie off the course?" Jade prompted.

"Probably, since that's what he was going to do to Sam," Freddie nodded. "Served him right - both for doing it and for sitting watching while _you_ took the blame," he nodded to Sam.

"I just want to forget about it and enjoy the rest of my time here," the blonde noted surprisingly reasonably; she placed a hand on her friend's back and the group headed for class and the next part of their course.

* * *

**AN: That's it for this chapter; thanks for reading. PD.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello everyone and thank you for clicking on this chapter; I hope you're all well.  
**

**My thanks, as always at this time, go to everyone who read and reviewed chapter 2.**

**Challenge King - yes, Jade was in a bit of a playful mood towards Cat; she was probably correct regarding who or what Freddie was thinking about though. Lane assumed that Sam was at fault; maybe not unreasonable but certainly wrong of him to do so, particularly given his position (as Pbow also alluded to).**

**Mkpunk - I think Freddie's decided to just leave them to it really and see if they can get along; I think, especially with Carly and Sam around, he's got enough to occupy him as it is; he'd obviously prefer the two girls to get on, and they do for the most part, but he's not going to force it right now. As for Robbie's story, yes it was rather ridiculous - and proved to be his downfall.**

**Beverlie4055 - thanks.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 - yes, Freddie should be listening but he dozed off a little in class; it happens sometimes I guess, only he got caught doing so. Again, yes, Sam was a logical suspect but Lane should have investigated rather than jumping to conclusions - and yes things could go badly for Robbie the next time Trina sees him.**

**Guest - thanks.**

**SeddieHeartLand - I'm glad that you liked the little exchanges between the character and I hope you find the Seddie friendship believable, even though it's rather different to their interactions in canon.**

**Pbow - you make some very good points as always; things could turn out _really_ badly for both Robbie and Lane if people made a fuss. With Trina the question is whether people _would_, given that her own parents couldn't care less about her. As for Lane - extra training might help but given the identity of the principal I can't see her sanctioning him, given race-based politics always play a part in things. But after helping Freddie and Jade in part 1, certainly his card has been marked again as far as the former tech producer is concerned.**

**Mkpunk has been writing an iCarly/Victorious cross-over, iHave Super Powers; I'd encourage you all to check it out.**

* * *

Chapter 3

_Venice Beach,_

_Los Angeles, CA_

_Sunday, 10__th__ July 2011_.

"What about this guy? Red shorts, walking past us now," the blonde suggested.

"_No!_" her brunette friend insisted vehemently.

"Here you are guys," Freddie announced before taking a seat next to Sam on the towels they had spread on the sand; he then handed each of the girls an ice cream.

"What are you fighting about?" Cat asked in concerned tones; she gave the extra ice cream she was carrying to her boyfriend and sat down next to him before starting on her own treat.

"We _weren't_ fighting," Carly insisted hotly, "Sam was just trying to…" she suddenly began to redden and took a great interest in the cold snack Freddie had given her.

"I'm trying to find her a man," the blonde teen supplied mirthfully; Carly turned beet red as the couple smiled at Sam's words.

"That's so great," the red velvet-haired girl enthused, drawing a frown from her temporary housemate.

"It _is_ a shame to see you single," Freddie added encouragingly.

"I know," Carly was somewhat mollified by the thought that her friends had her best interests at heart, "but some guy at a beach?" the web-star complained.

"Hey, I picked up a girl at the hospital," the brown-haired boy pointed out with a laugh, earning a playful swat from the girl in question.

"It's not like we _met_ there," she clarified; he just grinned at her mild annoyance.

Feeling typically playful, along with having the urge to wipe the smirk from her lover's face, Cat took some of the ice cream on her finger and wiped it on the boy's nose; he recoiled fractionally, due to the cold sensation on his warm skin and also wrinkled his nose a little. The cupcake-loving redhead found the sight adorable (_almost good enough to eat_ she thought to herself, causing her to snigger) and leaned in to lick up the ice cream she'd smeared on his face. Task completed she stole a quick kiss from his lips before returning her attention to her treat.

"Guys," Sam complained theatrically, though not too seriously, "can you at least _try_ to keep it PG-13 while we're in public?"

"No promises," Cat whispered with a hungry look towards Freddie; he laughed and draped an arm around her waist.

"See, _this_ is why you need a man," Sam turned to Carly who was watching the exchange with a genuine, if rather half-hearted smile, feeling a little jealous of the two teenagers and what they had together.

"Anyway," she sought to turn the tables, "how's _your_ guy? How are you doing without him?"

Sam's smile briefly flickered a fraction. "He's good," she revealed, "we've been talking on the phone on an evening when we get the chance – and quite a long chat yesterday. I miss him, he misses me – well he _says _so anyway," she chuckled.

"Aww, I'm sure he does," the brunette smiled.

"Hey, what about him?" Sam had spotted another potential 'candidate'; Carly just groaned and flopped onto her back, tipping her broad-brimmed hat slightly, both to get a little more comfort and a little more shade. Sam smiled at her reaction and finished off her ice cream before beginning to cast covetous looks at the brunette's.

"Not a chance," Carly snapped, rolling over to shield it with her body as she took another bite.

"Yeah, like _that_ would really stop me if I decided to take it," the blonde laughed.

The four friends were enjoying a quiet day at the beach, unwinding after the events of the past week. While they were enjoying the course (aside from the ultimately baseless allegations that Sam had been involved in injuring Trina) it _was_ quite a busy time. Freddie was still also working at the Pear Store on a Saturday (though he wasn't doing his evening shifts during the week while Carly and Sam were in town).

"What are the others doing today again?" Cat asked for a reminder from her man.

"Jade's hanging at the mall for part of the day, looking to score some free coffee from her guy," Freddie grinned at the thought of her badgering the poor Jet Brew employee at every opportunity. "Aside from that I think she was doing some work on another short play – given how… memorable her last one, at the Showcase, was."

"Oh, is she going to put it on at school?" Sam asked in interest, momentarily forgetting about Carly's partially eaten dessert.

"I doubt it. The old Principal thought _Well Wishes_ was too weird and disturbing – even _before_ the sponsor's rewrites," Cat winced at the memory as Freddie answered the girl, "and the new one doesn't really like us – me, Cat or Jade – because of our stance over her demand that we all re-audition to stay."

"Plus Sikowitz ran screaming from the theatre when she put the film on at the Showcase," the redhead chimed in, causing her boy to chuckle at the memory.

"Ok, so that's why there's no Jade; what about the Vega sisters?"

"We asked Tori but she said if she came she'd have to bring Trina and I think memories are still raw for her of last summer and being stuck in Beck's RV all day."

"Oh," the blonde paused for a moment, "couldn't she have just snuck out?"

"Perhaps but she'd _never_ have heard the end of it, particularly as Trina's still in full woe-is-me mode after what happened during Tori's play."

"Right, I guess she has to play the long game," Sam conceded.

The day was rapidly warming up; before long Freddie decided on a cooling swim in the sea. Cat joined him, splashing around merrily in the ocean's waters while the two Seattle girls watched them.

"You should go for a dip," the brown-eyed boy gestured to the water as he picked up a towel and began to dry himself off; Cat scampered up behind him a few moments later and he handed her a towel too. "The water's great."

"It _does_ sound appealing," Sam agreed, "you coming Carls?"

"I guess," she agreed, sounding slightly reluctant to do so, and followed the blonde towards the water's edge.

"What?" Freddie asked, slightly confused, as took his gaze off the visitors and saw Cat smiling at him.

"Nothing," she shrugged before stealing another kiss, starting a very enjoyable little exchange for the couple. While they passed a little time reading and talking while Carly and Sam were swimming, one of their make-out sessions was still in progress when the two other girls returned. Sam looked to Carly with an evil grin and, before the brunette could stop her, she shook her head rapidly, causing droplets of cold water to land on the exposed skin of the two youngsters. Cat pulled away with a squeal.

"Sam!" she complained.

"Sorry," the blonde laughed, "but it _had_ to be done."

"I don't see why," the redhead pouted.

Much to the relief of the Seattle-based girls in particular (they were not used to the California heat) a small amount of cloud cover arrived, cooling the air a little. Cat hopped to her feet with its arrival, hugging herself as the temperature fell a little.

"Are you ok?" Freddie asked in concern.

"Yeah," her tone was reassuring, "but I want to go for a walk while the sun's in," she told him.

"Ok, sure, we can check out a few of the street vendors," he suggested; the cupcake lover nodded readily. "Girls?" he turned to the web show hostesses.

"Sure, we can pack up and take a walk," Sam agreed. "I can't see it getting _much_ busier now so it's not like we'll lose our spot. Carls?"

"Alright, help me up?" she offered a hand to the blonde and she pulled her to her feet; they gathered up their towels and other stuff and, after a quick detour to deposit the items in Freddie's car, spent a pleasant hour walking in the shade along the edge of the beach investigating the various stalls.

Towards the end of their tour, one stall in particular caught Cat's eye.

"Oh," she squealed, "a bucket and spade! _Please_ can you get me a set?" she begged of her boy.

"Sure," he chuckled, amused by her enthusiasm for the items, and bought them for her. Sam was surprised to see her wielding the purchases when they caught up to one another afterwards.

"She really wanted them," Freddie explained in answer to his friend's questioning look.

With the clouds dissipating and the afternoon warming again, Cat wanted to use her new bucket and spade. Sam, predictably, was hungry so she and Carly went in search of some wraps or subs for them while the couple retrieved their things from his car and made their way back on to the sands. Having found an empty spot, Freddie began to set their position up again while his red-haired girlfriend moved a little closer to the sea before flinging herself onto the warm, golden beach and starting to build "Cat's castle" again.

It didn't take long for the sight, though endearing for him, to lose his full interest. "Sweetie," he called as he passed her, "I'm going for a swim."

"'kay 'kay," she cried enthusiastically, continuing with her task, though she glanced towards their belongings regularly, lest any light-fingered patrons take an interest in them.

She glanced up as she spotted a couple of feet on their towels in her peripheral vision, smiling as she saw Carly and Sam, complete with a large bag of sandwiches. The girl brushed the sand off her hands and trotted up to see them.

"Looks good," Carly praised her handiwork, drawing a giggle from the redhead, which she stifled with her hand; she swept her vivid red hair to the side of her face with a casual wave of her hand.

"Thanks. You brought a lot of food."

"Yeah, not really," Sam contradicted. "I doubt there'll be any left for Freddie if he doesn't get back soon. Is he swimming?"

Cat confirmed that he was and insisted on putting a couple of the subs on one side for him, much to the blonde's frustration as she quickly worked through her own before joining the brown-haired teen in the ocean, quickly followed by Carly (the redhead returned to the task of building her castle).

"Hey girls," Freddie, having spotted his two friends in the water, swam back towards the beach and greeted them; he glanced beyond them to see the tell-tale red locks of his girlfriend, still hard at work on the sand.

"Hey, we brought lunch," Carly declared.

"Cat wouldn't let me eat yours," Sam grumbled; he grinned and threw a handful of water at her, drawing a surprised gasp from the blonde as the cool seawater drenched her warm skin and sparking off an enthusiastic water fight between the three of them.

"Ok," Carly was the first to surrender, gasping for breath and holding her midriff as her lunch moved uncomfortably in her stomach from her exertions, "truce?"

The others nodded and Freddie headed for the sand. "I'm going to have my lunch and remove temptation from Sam," he noted with a laugh.

"Sure, I'll stay here for a bit; it's cooler than on the beach," she replied. Carly, too, decided to stay in the water and they watched as he walked over to their things, pausing briefly to kiss his girl's cheek (she quickly sought his lips and they shared a couple of slow kisses before he completed his journey and made a start on his subs).

Lunch consumed, the boy contented himself with watching as Cat finished off her handiwork; he continued to glance at the other two girls, still enjoying their swim before the redhead joined him.

"It looks really good, Cat," he praised her.

"Thanks," she smiled, finding her way into his arms as she lay next to him. The couple closed their eyes and enjoyed the peaceful surroundings for a few minutes before Carly and Sam returned; they too settled down on the towels to catch a few rays.

"Ok, are we done here?" Sam asked a few minutes later, once she was bored, "or do you guys want to stick around a little while longer?"

"It's up to you but we can head back if you all want to," Freddie looked around, "maybe shower, change and catch a movie at the mall?" he suggested.

"That sounds good," Cat agreed, "I just need to do one thing." She scrabbled around, found her pear phone and took a picture of her sandcastle. "I'll put it on _The Slap_ when I get home," she decided.

Carly gave Freddie an uncertain look, but he smiled and shrugged before gathering up their things and leading the way to his car.

"Oh hey, don't forget we still need to visit a funfair while Carly and Sam are here," she reminded him.

"Funfair?" Sam asked through a laugh.

"Yeah, it'll be great!" the redhead's eyes shone; Freddie smiled at the bewildered Seattle duo.

"We had a scene to do for our improv exam a couple of weeks ago," he explained, "and it was set in a funfair. I think that put the idea in her head."

The three girls nodded; Cat in agreement, Carly in understanding and Sam in resignation.

_Black box theatre,_

_Hollywood Arts High School,_

_Monday, 11__th__ July 2011_.

"Hey Tori," Freddie waved at the brunette as he led Sam into the theatre; they were assembling before class to learn who would be taking their group for the next couple of days.

"Hi," she smiled back. "How was the beach?"

"Really good, we had good weather, good company so it was a nice day."

"Except for making plans for the funfair," Sam grumbled before giving her brown-haired friend an apologetic look. "Sorry, I know she's your girlfriend and that she wants to do it and it's great that she wants to include us in all the stuff that you're getting up to while we're here but…"

"I know, Sam," he assured her with a comforting grin, "I didn't think it would be your sort of thing."

"Aww, I wish I could have gone with you," she nodded a little morosely, "but my parents wouldn't let me leave Trina alone and there's no way you'd get six in your Corolla."

"I know," he nodded. "Maybe next time?" The brunette nodded.

"How _is_ Trina?" Sam asked the half-Latina.

"She's fine, thanks for asking, but she's milking it for all she's worth," she complained theatrically. "She's up and about when it suits her but if she wants something and I tell her to get it herself you'd think she was dying."

"So she's practicing her acting at least," Freddie joked; Tori laughed in spite of herself.

"Does she know what really happened?"

"Oh yes," the younger sister confirmed. "She overheard me on Thursday telling my mom what Lane had wanted to do to Sam after accusing her and she demanded that I tell her everything that went on with the investigation."

"So you told her _all_ of the crazy theories?" the boy prompted; Tori looked momentarily embarrassed.

"Hey, my version was what _really_ happened!" she insisted.

"Including Jade as a rambling, incoherent monster?" he challenged.

"Well she _was_ getting that way when she left to get her coffee," Sam observed with a laugh; Freddie grinned and shook his head.

"Do we know what's going to happen to Robbie over it all?" he asked.

"When Trina gets her hands on him he's going to suffer," Tori warned darkly. "Understandably she was _not_ happy to find out who was behind it. Oh," she glanced at Sam, "she _did_ say to thank you for being the one who got the truth out of him."

"Wow, you've rubbed off on her Fredward," the blonde laughed. Seeing Tori scowl a little she continued confidently, "from what I've heard she's a little too self-absorbed to go around thanking people."

"Oh, well I can't argue with that," the brunette conceded.

"Alright, young actors," Sikowitz's voice boomed from the stage; the trio automatically glanced towards him before following his invitation to take their seats, looking around to see if their friends had arrived. Freddie spotted André talking to Jade and led the two girls over to them before scanning the room for any sign of his girlfriend. He was a little surprised to not see her there but suddenly, just as the teacher was preparing to begin his talk, she and Carly rushed breathlessly into the theatre.

"Hi," she panted as she took the vacant seat next to him, "we overslept. Phew."

"Up all night eating cupcakes?" Sam asked Carly with a grin; she reddened a little in confirmation. "And after you criticised Freddie last week," she shook her head in mock-disapproval.

"Oh, we still made it on time," the brunette huffed, bringing laughter from their friends. Sikowitz frowned at the fact that none of them were focussed on the stage.

"Listen," he chided them lightly. "Now," he continued once silence reigned in the room, "we're beginning the second of our weeks in this course. Of course, as most of you know we _have_ lost one of our number – I'm sure the story's been told in various guises by now so I won't repeat it – but we have decided _not_ to change the composition of the groups; I will simply have one person fewer for the next couple of days."

Freddie wiped his forearm across his brow, relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with Sikowitz over the next couple of days; Carly gave him a curious look, feeling that he must have exaggerated his issues with the balding eccentric, based on her limited interaction with him, though his schoolmates, and of course Sam, knew why he had reacted the way that he did.

"Tori?" Sam called as the group broke up to head to their various classes; the girl paused and turned in response. "What did your parents think of the fact that what happened to Trina was deliberate? I mean… your dad's a cop, is he gonna _arrest_ Robbie?"

"Oh… no," she shook her head after pondering the blonde's question for a few seconds. "Actually," she dropped her voice and a blend of shame and disappointment leaked into it, "they don't _really_ care too much about my sister and didn't seem all that bothered once they found out that she wasn't _too_ badly injured. Actually they left _me_ to look after her again and went off somewhere overnight."

Sam raised her eyebrows a little, feeling that the Vega parents seemed to be on a par with her own mother when it came to poor parenting. Carly could feel sympathy for the older sister, given how little she saw of her own father (though she knew that he wasn't away so much by choice as seemed to be the case in Trina's example) while Freddie shuddered a little.

"What?" the blonde probed as she spotted his reaction.

"I just tried to imagine how _my_ mom would react if what happened to Trina had happened to me. I won't be doing _that_ again," he grinned.

"As if that sort of fall would hurt _you_," she elbowed him gently; he chuckled at her words.

"That reminds me, I need to get back to the gym before long," he commented thoughtfully, "it's been a couple of weeks since I last went."

_Mr Allen's classroom_

Following the teens' departure from the theatre Freddie, Cat, Jade, Carly and Sam headed with the rest of their group to the classroom where the next portion of their workshop was going to take place.

"What's this guy like?" the blonde asked curiously.

"He's one of the better teachers," Freddie replied, "and he really does know his stuff when it comes to directing." He gave a slightly cocky grin as he continued, "He taught _me_ quite a few things that I wish I'd known when we started _iCarly_."

Sam raised her eyebrows a little as she nodded her head at the disclosure.

"And, of course," he dropped his voice a little, "this is where I met Lindsey."

The blonde eyed him cautiously, trying to gauge his mood; he turned to his other side where Cat was smiling reassuringly at him. The redhead took his hand and squeezed it gently.

"It's ok," he whispered, turning back to Sam and repeating in a low voice, "it's ok. It goes back to what I said last week; it's always going to be there in my life but I don't have to let it _rule_ my life – or to ruin it." To the blonde's other side, Carly wrinkled her nose; she was trying her best to eavesdrop but couldn't quite make out what he was saying; she felt a pang of jealousy that she was _still_ out of the loop on something that everyone else seemed to know about.

"Alright people," the teacher strode briskly into the room, pushing the door shut behind him and turning to the teenagers. "The first thing to do," he continued, taking a seat facing them, "is to sort yourselves into two groups – one person from each group needs to put themselves forward as the director. Once you've decided on them you can take one of these packs," he rested his hands on two large envelopes on the desk between him and his charges, "and it will give you some pointers for the script you'll need to put together and perform in a couple of days' time."

There was a clatter of chairs as the class huddled together, awkwardly trying to divide itself in two.

"Hold on, hold on," Carly raised a hand, seeing that little headway had been made. "Who _wants_ to direct a scene?" Unseen behind her, Mr Allen nodded approvingly, seeing someone take leadership over the class; he felt they'd work it out far more quickly than some of the earlier groups had when they'd tried to organise themselves.

"I do," Jade's hand went straight up; she looked around at the others, expecting both Carly and Freddie to volunteer and she was surprised that neither did.

"I will," Sam was next to speak up, "so we have our two leaders," she smiled at the dark brunette, today wearing her turquoise hair extensions.

The two directors had soon divided the class between them (Jade chose Cat and then Freddie while Sam's first selection had been Carly). The remainder of their group joined the two parties and the leaders picked their packs.

"Ok," Jade began as she drew a leaf of paper from her envelope, "our scene is going to take place in a school… that's convenient," she added with a smirk, "and involves an altercation in class. It could be a dispute between two students or between student and teacher. Ideas?" she threw the discussion open to the floor.

Sam, meanwhile, was also talking her charges through their assignment. "We're in a bank," she explained, "and there's an argument between the cashier and one of the customers. Alright, who wants to be the cashier?" She looked to her classmates, smiling as Carly's hand shot up. "Ok, Carls, you're it. Now – the customer?"

* * *

"Freddie?" Mr Allen called as the class broke for lunch; he stopped in his tracks, just inside the room and turned to face the teacher. Carly, who had been right behind him, also paused, though their other friends had already left (noticing that the duo didn't join them they lingered just inside the school and waited for them to arrive).

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering… how come you didn't volunteer to direct? I assumed that you would, given how well you did in my class as a freshman."

"That's exactly why," he explained with a knowing smile, "I've been there and done that – both here for school and also on _iCarly_ when I was… influencing things from behind the camera," he shot a side-along glance at Carly, knowing that she would hotly dispute claims that someone other than her was the show's director (if indeed a chaotic improvisation show even _had_ a director), "so I decided that I wanted to be one of the actors, particularly with a couple of movie parts coming up for me; I think I'd get more out of acting than directing right now."

"Ok," the adult nodded, trying to hide his disappointment; he couldn't fault the boy's logic but _had_ been looking forward to seeing him in action as a director again.

"I felt the same way," Carly volunteered, "I've been in charge of _iCarly_ for years – despite what Freddie said," she added in a slightly grumbling voice, causing him to grin at her, "so I wanted to give someone else a chance and just enjoy myself on the stage instead of having to worry about the overall flow of it."

"Sure," Mr Allen nodded again, "it's a shame for me – having two of my most experienced students not directing, but it makes sense. I'll let you get your lunch," he dismissed them with a small smile.

_Asphalt Café_

"What happened to you guys?" Sam enquired once they had reached their table and started on their lunch.

"Mr Allen wanted to know why neither of us were directing," Carly explained to her; she and Freddie then went over their reasoning.

"So how's your script coming along?" Jade asked the blonde.

"Carly's going to write it for me," she grinned; the brunette quickly swallowed the bite of her lunch she'd just taken, battling to avoid choking, such was her desperation to clarify Sam's statement. "Relax, Carls," she urged her, worrying slightly as the brunette's skin started to take on a faint but distinctly purple tinge, "I was kidding; it's actually coming along well – though I will say that it's more work than I was expecting."

"Well maybe you'll appreciate what I put into _iCarly_ a little more," the brunette retorted hotly, before coughing a little to clear her throat of any residual morsels.

"Carls, I may not _say_ it but I _do_ appreciate the work you do on it," she remarked sincerely, "and if it looks like I don't, or… or that I don't do enough – well it's because you take charge of _everything_ and I don't want to tread on your toes with it."

Carly looked curiously at her; she knew that Sam had become a little _less lazy_ since her release from juvie and that she really was doing her best in school these days but still hadn't seen it translate too much into helping her on their show. She found herself having to re-evaluate her thoughts a little given the explanation and the other girl's reasoning.

"Anyway," the blonde turned to Jade, Cat and Freddie, "how are you guys doing?"

"So far so good," the director assured her, "we've been bouncing a few ideas around over the course of the morning; I just need to pick my favourite – or combine a few if more than one appeals to me – and then work them into something that we can perform fairly quickly."

"Right, it can't be too complicated," Freddie agreed, patting his girlfriend's arm gently; she nodded sadly.

"They rejected my ideas," she complained morosely.

"Sweetie they were _way_ too complicated for the time and equipment that we've got for this. They were _great_ ideas and you should hang onto them to use when you take Mr Allen's class next semester and you've got time to put them together but for this… unfortunately they're unworkable."

She nodded, slightly placated by his encouragement. "Will you help me with them?" she asked.

"Of course I will," he assured her.

_Valentine residence, Hollywood Hills_

Jade accepted the invitation to accompany the quartet to her best friend's home after the conclusion of their classes; they continued to discuss how the day had gone, trading ideas about their scenes and scripts and letting some extra pairs of eyes look at them seemed to help; both groups were able to suggest some minor improvements to each other's productions. Jade, meanwhile, was attempting to mine Freddie's experience of directing and camera work to help her decide how the scenes should be shot; he was happy to help.

"Do you think you'll be ready in time?" Carly asked; she felt a little troubled at the amount of detail Jade seemed to be wanting to add (some of it came from Cat's ideas that she was hoping to incorporate, something that had lifted her friend's mood).

"I have every confidence in Freddie," she smirked at him. "Seriously, yes some of these will be a little tough but I think we can pull it off; if not then we simplify it again."

"Can you do that?" Sam enquired.

"We should be able to," Freddie took up, "we have the basic script; these amendments can probably be dropped with us going back to the original wording and ideas if we _have_ to."

"Hopefully we won't though," Cat interjected with a smile.

"Makes sense," the blonde nodded, "hey, maybe _we_ could try something like that. Add I dunno, a _wish list_ or something, stuff that we'd _like_ to do and then if we can't – well at least we have what we've already written."

"Are you going to write that?" Carly challenged, fearing that yet more work was going to be heaped onto her plate.

"Sure," the blonde shrugged, much to her surprise, "I'll see what I can get done tonight once we're back at Freddie's; we'll just have to talk it over in the morning to see you like it and think it works."

The brunette floundered a little at her friend's eagerness to contribute; it still wasn't something that she was used to – or expecting.

"Alright then," she agreed.

"I'd better get to work," Sam smiled.

* * *

**AN: Thank you for reading; I hope that you liked it. PD.**


	4. Chapter 4: Jade Gets Crushed

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the final part of this short little bridging story; I hope you are all well.**

**As usual at this time, my thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the previous chapter.**

**Beverlie4055 – thanks.**

**Challenge King – yes this day at the beach went a bit better for the majority of them, though of course Cat and Freddie enjoyed the beach the last time anyway.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – Freddie wanted to act because of his forthcoming movie appearances; he wanted to get a little more experience in the school environment. The show demonstrates repeatedly that neither of the Vega parents care too much about Trina but maybe she will get to deal with Robbie herself at some point. Certainly their next meeting will be interesting.**

**SeddieHeartLand – Sam is prepared to work when it's something that interests her and she really is trying to do better, realising that she has a chance to make something of her life after the events of juvie, her mother abandoning her and finally getting a stable home with the Shays. As for what's wrong with the Vega parents? I don't know but clearly they just flat out don't care about their eldest daughter.**

**Pbow – yes, 4 chapters in 4 minutes; I wanted to have a mass update before I went on holiday and I hope people enjoyed them all. I'm not sure that Carly's really a sandcastle builder (she's not as childlike as Cat, though she has her own inherent goofiness); Sam probably would have commented had Freddie been involved but she knows Cat's rather sensitive so she probably bit her tongue. Maybe Carly could have learnt a little more about the topic of directing but she was happy enough to let Sam have a go; I'm sure she'll pick up a few things by osmosis as the week goes on.**

**Ok, that's everyone so let's get on with the final chapter of this little story.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Jade Gets Crushed

_Valentine Residence, Hollywood Hills_

_Tuesday, 12__th__ July 2011_.

The atmosphere in Cat's front room was relaxed and jovial. The kids had spent another fun day at school, continuing with their course. Sam and Jade had had another successful session planning and directing their performances; both felt hopeful that their groups would be ready to go by the back end of the week when they needed to perform them, though Sam still had her concerns over the script.

"It's _fine_," Carly had sighed as her friend had voiced her concerns once again that afternoon. "Seriously, Sam, if I was you I'd look more at the set design; I know the school's got people in to do it but maybe _they're_ the ones that you should be supervising."

"Right, I'll do that now." She had disappeared from the room, only to return a few moments later, wearing a sheepish expression. "Uh, Freddie? Could you tell me where the Art room is?"

Jade hadn't even tried to suppress a laugh at this. "C'mon, I'll show you; I should check on ours too."

Happily the set designs were both coming well and the directors had been able to report to their teams that all looked like being good to go by Thursday.

As they relaxed, Cat sat snuggled close to Freddie; Sam was on his other side with a bowl of chips in her lap. The blonde idly, almost subconsciously, dipped a hand in the bowl and munched on her snack as they watched TV. Carly, meanwhile, shuffled around in the hallway with her phone pressed to her ear and a smile growing on her face as she spoke. She turned towards Freddie and grinned at him before turning back and walking a few more paces.

"Who's she talking to?" Cat asked her boyfriend.

"Spencer, I think," he answered, "she said he was hoping to come down for a day or two at the end of the course."

"Can he get the time off work?"

Sam responded to this by practically choking on her chips. "Spencer? A job?" she laughed.

"There's your answer," Freddie smiled at the redhead. "He's an aspiring artist but… not terribly successful."

"That's so sad," she observed morosely.

"Meh, he enjoys his art," Sam countered, "but it _would_ be good if he could sell some more stuff; it would make us less dependent on Colonel Shay."

"Carly's dad pays for everything?"

"Yeah. He probably wishes he didn't _have_ to, especially as he's feeding _me_ as well now," she grinned. "Anyway, how are you guys doing?"

The couple wore identical questioning expressions, as if they didn't understand why she was asking them, especially given how much fun they were all having with the course; Sam persisted, "I mean you've been hanging with the two of us non-stop. I just figured you might… y'know, want a bit of time together now and again, just the two of you."

Freddie raised his eyebrows slightly at the blonde's unusual show of perception; he turned to his girl and saw that she was beaming and her eyes shone with anticipation now that the seed had been planted.

"I guess that would be nice," the brown-haired teen accepted awkwardly, "you're right that we haven't had too many uh… opportunities of late to have some 'us time'."

"Hmm, there might be something…" the blonde was cut off in her thoughts by Carly; the brunette had hung up her phone and her face was practically glowing with excitement. "He's coming Thursday," she confirmed happily.

"Awesome," Freddie matched her smile, "it will be great to see him again."

"Where's he going to stay?" Sam asked, wondering about the logistics.

"Oh," the brunette's face fell as that occurred to her, "I was so excited that he was coming we never talked about it."

"I don't think we've much more room," Freddie shook his head regretfully, "with Sam in our guest room. I guess we could put him on the couch for a couple of nights. I could ask mom."

"We could have a proper sleep-over," Cat addressed Carly; her eyes shone again in excitement as she warmed to the idea. "Spencer could have your room and you can sleep in my room."

"Maybe," the younger Shay's voice was a little weak; much as she loved spending time with Cat she wasn't sure how much sleep she'd get if the two were in the same room. "We still have a couple of days to sort everything out. Oh, _Celebrities Underwater_," she turned her attention quickly to the television and grabbed a handful of chips before Sam could finish them all, noticing as she glanced around the room that the other three seemed a little lost in thought. "What were you talking about?" She wrinkled her nose.

* * *

"So, what do you want to do? About getting a little _alone time_," Sam pressed as Freddie drove them back to the Benson home.

"Well, if Cat was at school early enough… and if _you_ wake up early enough," he glanced slyly at his friend; she rolled her eyes at his jibe but let it go, having to concede that mornings were still not a strong point for her, "then maybe there'd be _something_ we could do before school…"

_Hollywood Arts High School_

_Wednesday, 13__th__ July 2011_.

Sam was leaning casually against the door of the janitor's closet as Carly walked by looking a little more flustered than usual.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" the blonde asked with a smile; the brunette turned huffily to her.

"I haven't seen Freddie since we got here – and I can't find Cat anywhere. She rushed us out of the house this morning and she's just disappeared! Freddie's gotta be here if _you _are, so do you know where they are?"

"Yeah, they're uh… having some 'private time'," she explained delicately, "they've not had much time for just the two of us with us visiting," she continued, "so they're catching up a little."

"Oh ok," she nodded, appreciating what Sam had observed the previous evening, that the two Seattle girls were something of a burden on the couple's privacy. "I guess I'll see them in class. You coming?"

"In a bit." Sam made no attempt to move; Carly eyed her suspiciously for a few moments before bustling off. The blonde allowed her mind to wander to her blond-haired boyfriend and smiled as she thought of him; much as she had enjoyed being in LA with Freddie and the others she was looking forward to seeing her man again before long.

A cautious, stealthy knocking drew her from her musings a few minutes later; she glanced around, making sure that the hallway was deserted before opening the door, grinning as Cat and Freddie emerged, both wearing decidedly crumpled clothing that they desperately tried to smooth.

"Thanks," the former tech producer smiled at his friend; Cat grinned her gratitude as well before moving onto tiptoes to plant a peck on her boy's lips and informing them that she was heading to the bathroom to tidy herself up a little. "Anyone cause any trouble?"

"No," the blonde watched the redhead skip off before turning to her confidant, "Carly came by looking as harassed as ever and I told her you two wanted some alone time – though I didn't say what you were doing or _where_," she added slyly. "André was looking for Tori but other than that," she shook her head, "nobody came around."

"Oh, _there_ they are," the brown-haired boy nodded in the direction of his friends as the dreadlocked musician and half-Latina singer came around the corner and passes some of the lockers.

"Hey guys," Tori took in Freddie's crumpled clothing with a slightly surprised look.

"You found her then?" Sam addressed André, seeking to quickly change the subject as her friend tried to smooth off his shirt again.

"Yeah, since you all are here too, wanna listen to my new song?"

They all agreed and encouraged him to take a seat on the main staircase; Sam and Tori flanked him on the stairs while Freddie stood leaning against the handrail.

The musical genius played his tune, causing Tori to cheer appreciatively.

"Nice fingering!" Sam declared; Freddie shot her a funny look and she grinned wickedly back at him.

"Thanks," he gave an embarrassed chuckle.

"The tune sounds really good," Freddie encouraged.

"So what's that song for?" Tori asked.

"Is it for Friday night's end-of-course party and concert?" the blonde guessed.

"Nah... it's for the short film our group's putting together for this class," he explained.

"You're putting music into your production?" She was impressed with the level of detail that they were going into for it.

"Yep," he confirmed, "and it's wiggin' me out."

"Well, put your wig back on..." Tori cried, before giving a weak laugh as André and Sam looked at her, "haha... 'Cuz that song sounds really cool."

"Thanks," he accepted the praise. "But I got no lyrics yet... and I'm running out of time to get it done."

"Then get the others to help you," Freddie suggested.

"I find it better to do the whole thing on my own," he countered.

"But if you can't get any lyrics..." Sam reasoned.

"I know," he accepted the problem before turning to Tori. "But why I was looking for you earlier? When I _do_ come up with the lyrics, I want you to sing 'em."

"Me?" she asked in surprise.

"You're the only you I know."

"Wow... that's deep," she acknowledged.

"So you in?"

"I'd love to but I'm busy with my own class projects," she complained, "I just don't think I'll have time over the next couple of days."

André looked downcast; Freddie and Sam, however, had spotted Jade walking by. The blonde gave her friend a surprisingly gentle punch as a thought occurred to her.

"Hey, what about Jade?"

"What ABOUT Jade?" the pale girl approached the group, wondering why her name was being uttered.

"Yeah, Jade can sing the lyrics for you," Freddie agreed.

"Lyrics?" she raised a pierced brow at the musician; he looked a little sceptical at the idea but Jade was extremely enthusiastic about it, once the others had explained it to her.

_Mr Allen's Classroom_

To Carly's immense surprise, and that of the rest of her team, Sam was proving to be an extremely tough taskmaster as the end of the course, and the performance of their production, approached; the blonde, for so often so laid back when it came to preparing scenes for the web show, had become possessed by manic energy and was busily critiquing the performance of every member of her group, along with making minor changes to the dialogue after every read through, as often as not returning to the original wording after two or three changes.

"Sam, Sam, SAM!" Freddie, who had seen her getting more and more worked up, left his read-through momentarily and caught her arm as she began to rave while scribbling on one of the scripts.

"WHAT?" she snapped, looking unusually flustered and harassed.

"Take a quick break," he suggested, "it looks like you're getting _way_ too worked up over this and I don't think it's helping _anybody_," he added with a grin as he eyed their cowering classmates.

"Right, right," she paused for breath. "It's just… the pressure of the whole thing and wanting it to be great."

"Well maybe now you know how I feel when I'm planning _iCarly_ and you're eating meatballs," Carly huffed.

Sam nodded humbly. "I think I will take a few minutes," she strode out of the classroom before doubling back and addressing the brunette again. "Can I have a dollar for a soda?"

Freddie grinned as Carly rolled her eyes in exasperation before delving into her purse and extracting a couple of bills. "Get me one," she instructed.

"Take five everyone," Sam called over her shoulder as she left again; her charges heaved a collective sigh of relief at her departure.

Across the room Jade was feeling rather more relaxed; the gothic teen had confidence in her script and her team and she felt that their scene was already pretty much as good as it was going to get. Overhearing the end of the Seattle girls' conversation, she felt that a drink sounded like a good idea so she, too, instructed her team to take a break and followed the blonde into the hallway.

"How's it going?" she asked as Sam bent down to pick up her bottles.

"Oh, it's ok," the reformed tearaway looked over her shoulder at the newcomer; she was distracted by the sight of the girl's bare forearms as she thought she could _just _make out a couple of very faint lines on her left arm. Sam's mind raced back to her last visit to Los Angeles and how Freddie had, without going into specifics, suggested that all wasn't quite well with Jade. Feeling that the silence was threatening to become awkward she managed to restore her gaze to the other girl's face and continued, "It's probably better than I think it is, I just… I _really_ want to make a good impression with this, y'know? It's the one chance I'll have and, even though it probably won't _mean_ much once I'm back in Seattle, to get praise and recognition for work at _this_ school… I dunno, it'd just mean something to _me_."

Jade nodded; she couldn't quite understand where the other girl was coming from, given the differences in their circumstances, but she understood the importance of making the most of one's opportunities and, having been cast in Freddie's upcoming movie with him, she was determined to make the most of hers, _especially_, she thought with a degree of bitterness, _if certain other people are getting more than their fair share of chances to shine_.

"How are you, anyway?" Sam asked; she narrowed her eyes a little and squinted at Jade's forearm again.

"What do you mean?" Jade threw a hurried glance at her arm but didn't allow her gaze to linger, not wanting to draw any more attention to the faint scarring that persisted.

"I mean you might want to reapply your make-up," Sam elaborated delicately and she nodded at the arm. Jade looks down at it again before turning suspiciously to the girl. "They're faint but… I remember one of the girls in juvie – she liked to show them off and act all tough around us but when she had a family visit," the blonde almost spat out the last two words as she thought of her own family and the lack of visits she had received, both during and since her incarceration, though she _had_ been talking more frequently with Melanie of late (and, if she was to be believed, neither sister knew where their mother was) "she'd try to cover them up with make-up too."

"Right," Jade nodded uncomfortably, still feeling a little suspicious but accepting the explanation, given that the alternative was to believe that Freddie had betrayed her confidence; it was something that she didn't want to have to think possible.

"You want to talk about it?" Sam offered; Jade looked around. The corridor was deserted but she jerked her head towards the janitor's closet; Sam grinned, thinking about its use this morning, as the two made their way to it while the gothic girl fired off a quick text.

"After Spring Break," she began once they were alone, "I was in a dark place."

"After Yerba?" Sam prompted.

"Yeah. Not so much what happened there but… Beck, our break-up, him and Alyssa, them going to Cancun, his family preferring her to me, the… the loneliness," her eyes filled with sorrow as she went through the list of issues that she had fought – and, at least for a while, lost. "The pain…" she barked out a mirthless laugh, "it sounds crazy now but it _helped_ somehow and I… I got… maybe not quite _addicted_ to it but," she shrugged, not sure quite how to put it all into words. Sam waited silently, wordlessly encouraging her to continue; she sighed. "Anyway it went on for a while without anybody realising but then one day Freddie started to notice some… changes about me, some things that were off, and he challenged me about it; finally he got me to fess up." Jade managed a genuine smile as she continued, "He was great about it, so was Cat and even his _mom_ really helped me out, can you believe that?"

"Mrs Benson?" Sam was surprised to learn that the nurse had been so useful. "She seems a little less crazy these days than she was in Seattle but I wouldn't have believed it from the woman I knew back then," the blonde conceded.

"She found a counsellor at the hospital who helped me through it all. Cat applies make-up regularly to just about conceal them; they're fading with time," she inspected her forearm again, "though obviously not completely yet."

"But you're not still…" Sam gestured uncomfortably. Jade shook her head.

"No, not since that night when I told Cat, Freddie and his mom about it."

"Will they ever go away?"

"From what I've been told, probably not _completely_ on their own… hence the make-up. _When_ I make it big," she spoke as if she was in no doubt that it would happen and Sam grinned at her self-confidence, "I can probably get some sort of cosmetic surgery that will get rid of the evidence but for now…" she frowned thoughtfully before actually smiling, "I dunno, sometimes it's actually good to look at them, to be reminded of the dark place I was in and of the friends I have that pulled me out of there."

"So this would have been just before we came down for that Ke$ha gig, right?" It was the blonde's turn to be thoughtful as she finished off putting all the pieces together.

"Yeah," Jade nodded.

"Right, something seemed _off_ with you, I just couldn't put my finger on it and Freddie wouldn't go into details when I asked."

"He trusts people with his secrets and keeps theirs in return," the gothic girl told her friend, feeling relief that her faith and belief in the boy had been justified; Sam nodded her agreement.

The door opened; the two girls' heads turned to it, only to see that Cat was the new arrival. The redhead was surprised to see that Sam was with Jade but the taller girl gave a curt nod so she happily went about reapplying the make-up, completely hiding the scars.

"Nice job," Sam complemented; the childlike teen smiled her thanks. "Well, I'd better get back to it," she nodded to the two girls, "I need to get this thing finished in time to perform on Friday."

Cat and Jade nodded, the latter noting that her group needed to finish as well, and the three returned to the classroom.

"Ready to go again?" Freddie asked with a smile as Sam returned; he raised his eyebrows a little as the other two girls filed into the room as well and greeted them with a small wave.

"Yep," the blonde confirmed, "ok, what have we got?" she asked her team.

The more relaxed Sam was certainly welcome for her team; she, Carly and the others worked well together and, when Mr Allen finally told them that it was time to finish for the day, she felt that they would be ready in plenty of time.

"No more script changes tonight," Carly demanded.

"Well maybe one or two tweaks," the blonde countered; the brunette practically tore the sheaves of paper out of her friend's hands.

"No. More. Changes," she repeated. Sam looked a little mutinous but acquiesced.

"We'll see you at mine later on?" Freddie prompted to his girlfriend as the couple joined the Seattle duo.

"Yep, once we've eaten we'll come on over," Cat smiled, giving him a quick kiss before walking over to join Carly; Sam replaced her by Freddie's side.

"No Jade?" the blonde looked around.

"She left about half an hour ago," he supplied, "she had to go and help André out with his song."

_Music room_

"What are we stopping here for?" Sam asked as Freddie led her to the music block, rather than the parking lot at the end of the day's classes.

"Oh, I just wanted to check on André and Jade and see how it was going before we left."

The blonde nodded briefly as the brown-haired teen ducked his head inside the room.

"Hey man," the dreadlocked teen waved as he spied him.

"Oh hey." He looked around, surprised to see that André was alone, "Jade's not here yet?"

"No, I thought that she would be but um, listen: about Jade..." André began awkwardly.

"Yeah?" his friend prompted cautiously as he stepped inside the room, followed by the blonde.

"Look, don't take this the wrong way but... I dunno if she's the right girl to sing my song."

"Why not?" Freddie was surprised. "She has an awesome voice."

"I know; it's just... she scares me," he admitted.

"Jade scares you?" Sam could barely repress her laughter at the complaint.

"She scares _everybody_," the musician insisted.

"Not me," Freddie contradicted.

"Nor me," Sam supported him.

"Look," the tech genius continued, trying not to offend his friend, "sure she can be a little... abrasive if you get on her bad side but..."

He was interrupted as the dark-haired girl stormed angrily into the room; she had a cup of _Jet Brew_ coffee in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. "I am gonna _kill_ him!" she snapped furiously.

"Ohhhh," André recoiled in fear; Sam grinned as she and Freddie exchanged a look.

"What happened?" Her confidant's voice blended concern and curiosity.

"Sinjin sat on my new scissors!"

"Okay, okay, it's not that big a deal..." Sam observed; despite the upbeat nature of their earlier talk she had a light concern that a relapse could be triggered in the girl.

"It's a HUGE deal," the mean girl countered, "they're bent! They've lost their sizz!" She flung the offending object into the wall, where it sank into a noticeboard.

"Why did you leave them lying around where he could plant his butt on it?" the blonde pried; Jade just glared at her, increasing André's anxiety.

Freddie grinned awkwardly. "We have to go and eat before we see Cat and Carls," he took Sam's arm and steered her towards the door, hoping to head off any potential argument. "You kids have fun," he called as he and his blonde friend left.

_Benson residence_

"So she was upset?" Cat asked softly after she and Carly had heard the tale from the other two.

"Oh yes," Sam smirked.

"She definitely wasn't pleased," Freddie chuckled, "André looked _terrified_."

"What are you thinking?" The blonde glanced over to Carly; she seemed not to be listening to their conversation but was grinning broadly.

"Sorry, I'm just excited 'cos Spencer's gonna be here tomorrow. Anyway…" something occurred to her, "I didn't get a chance to ask with Sam cracking the whip all day," she eyed her housemate slyly, "did you guys have fun this morning with your _alone time_," she put special emphasis on the last couple of words and her look became teasing.

"We did, thanks," Freddie smiled warmly; he slipped his hand towards Cat's lap and she laced her fingers with his own, "much as we're having fun with you guys it _was_ nice for it to be just the two of us for a little bit."

"Yeah," Cat agreed slightly dreamily; the quartet watched TV in comfortable silence for a while before she broke it by suddenly gasping. "Hey, what about Soapy?" she wondered aloud; the other three looked at her in bewilderment at the apparently random and meaningless question.

"Soapy?" Sam asked as she tried to control her giggles, wondering what on earth the girl was talking about.

"Yeah, as a boyfriend for Carly." The brunette buried her head in her hands and groaned at the change in topic, especially back to her private life; Sam grinned malevolently. "You know," the redhead addressed her rather perplexed-looking boyfriend, "that guy in our play who is in that scene with me."

Freddie frowned in thought for a minute as he tried, and failed, to place the name. He thought back to the classroom and grinned as he thought he'd managed to identify the scene, and boy, in question. "Oh, do you mean Dusty?"

"Dusty, right…" the cupcake lover acknowledged her error with a shy nod, "I wonder why his parents called him Dusty," she continued thoughtfully, "he smells really clean… they should have called him Soapy", she decided with a nod.

Freddie shook his head and looked helplessly at the two Seattle girls; Sam was shaking with barely contained laughter while Carly looked more than slightly irritated at their continual attempts to interfere with her love life.

"Thanks for the thought," she managed to supply, "but I'm not looking to date anyone else from LA. Not right now anyway."

"Ok," Sam shrugged, "I'll just have to try harder once we're back in Seattle."

Carly groaned again and threw a cushion across the room at the blonde, amid howls of laughter from the couple.

"Anyway," she huffed, "has there been any word from André and Jade yet?" She looked particularly at Cat and Freddie. "Do you know if they're still at school?"

"I don't know, but with how meticulous André is about his music I'd guess so." Cat nodded her agreement with his assessment.

"I wonder how they're getting on," Carly pondered thoughtfully.

_Music room, Hollywood Arts High School_

It had been a tough night for the duo; midnight was almost upon them and they were still struggling to finish the lyrics, even though André pretty much had the tune down now.

"Alright," the gothic teen sighed, stretching a little to relieve some of the tension from her muscles. "You ever try this when you were a kid?" and she reached for his hand.

"Whoa, whoa, whatcha doin'?" he yelped.

"Just give me your hand, don't be a baby," she insisted, reaching for it again.

"Alright," he conceded reluctantly, "I'm trusting you."

"Yeah, yeah... big mistake..." she grinned wickedly. "Make a fist? Okay..." once he had done so she began to massage it a little.

"What are you doing?" he asked, caution and intrigue mingling.

"Uh... talk less..." she scolded lightly, "and open your hand." She slapped his open palm with hers. "Fist," she commanded.

"You sure there's a point to this?"

"Yep..." she confirmed casually, massaging his hand again, "and here it comes... Open?" She pressed the palm of his hand with her index finger.

"Oooh, it's all tingly!" he exclaimed.

"See?" she smiled; the boy laughed.

"Do it again!" he implored her.

"No! You have to finish writing your song... the chorus."

"Eh, it's almost midnight, let's just bail."

"Uh uh," she refused. "You got a break, now finish writing the chorus."

"I've been tryin' to finish it for three hours," he whined.

"Wow. Great," she commended him with a voice laced with sarcasm, "now shut up and sing something." The dreadlocked teen began playing a few bars. "Keep goin'," she encouraged.

"_I... I really wish that I could write the next line,_" he sang,

"_my favorite letter's 'J',_

_tuna fish filet, _

_I'm gonna wash my dog with some blue shampoo._"

Jade rolled her eyes in exasperation; she felt that they just weren't getting anywhere at the moment and _really_ didn't want to be there all night given that she still had her group to supervise and direct over the next couple of days. "All right... let me try something. Record me," she ordered.

"All right. Here you go," he complied.

"_There is no upper hand I'm givin' you mine_," she began softly, "_It doesn't have to end up wastin' your time_,

_There's things that I could say, but here in my way_

_I want to let you know that it's all okay._

Whatcha think?" she prompted; André sat in stunned silence. "Ya like that?"

"Mmm-hmmm," he finally managed.

_Main Hallway,_

_Thursday, 14__th__ July 2011_.

"So you've _really_ got no problem with Cat going around sniffing up other guys?" Sam asked in a light voice as she tried to keep up with Freddie's stride; he seemed to finally have had enough of her teasing (even though he knew she didn't _really_ mean anything by it all) and had been pointedly ignoring her since they began their walk from the parking lot.

"_No_," he snapped, causing her to smile at his annoyance. "Tori, thank God," he smiled as he spotted the brunette slouching against her locker, "finally some sanity," he grinned at the blonde, who dug an elbow gently into his ribs; he retaliated by shoving her playfully against the locker with his shoulder. "Why do you look like you haven't slept?" he asked; Sam was so distracted by his question, and the half-Latina's appearance, that she forgot to give Freddie any reprisals for his shove.

"_Because_," she groaned wearily, "André texted me in the middle of the night saying he was outside my house and freaking out."

"Freaking out?" Freddie cocked his head curiously.

"Like _majorly_ wigging."

"Because of his song?" Sam pressed.

"That was part of it but not the _major_ thing… y'see," Tori began relaying the events of the early hours of the morning.

_Vega house_

_The brunette had been roused from her slumbers by the insistent bleeping of her phone; she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and tried to brush her bed hair out of her face. The half-Latina reached over to her nightstand and picked up her glowing pear phone, groaning as she peered at the screen. The singer groped for her glasses and slipped them on, allowing the screen to come into focus. She wrinkled her nose as she processed the identity of the caller and wore a perplexed look as she read the message. She struggled out of bed and donned her robe before shuffling downstairs just as somebody began rapping on her family's front door._

"_André," she greeted him tersely._

"_Did you get my text?" he asked earnestly._

"_Yes..." she confirmed, "why do you think I'm standing here at three in the morning?!"_

"_I'm trippin' out, Tori... I'm trippin' out," the dreadlocked teen's voice was panicked._

"_All right, just come in, come in," she stepped aside, allowing him inside the house._

"_Go make me cocoa," André pleaded._

"_I'm not making cocoa," she countered; her friend groaned. "What is wrong with you?" she demanded._

"_I think I'm in love with Jade," he dropped his bombshell, leaving Tori slack-jawed._

"_I'll make the cocoa," she relented._

Freddie's eyes widened in surprise at the disclosure. "André's _in love_ with Jade?" he repeated in a low voice.

"That's what he said," Tori confirmed.

"Yesterday he was terrified of her, now he's in love with her?" Sam asked in surprise. "Hmm, maybe Carly needs to try scaring them a little," she joked.

"Yeah, _don't_ suggest that to her," Freddie smiled, "not after last night."

"Last night?" Tori was a little annoyed to have been side-tracked midway through her story but was eager to catch up on whatever gossip was circulating her extended friendship group.

"Cat wanted to hook her up with one of the guys on the course here," the blonde informed her.

"And she wasn't interested?"

Freddie answered. "I think she feels like a bit of a charity case with people trying to set her up. Whether she'd be interested if the right guy came along… I just don't know. Then there's the whole LA to Seattle thing." Tori's face fell as it instantly brought Steven to mind. "Exactly," his voice was heavy with sympathy as he saw her expression change.

"So did André say much else?" Sam, with unusual tact, sought to change the subject.

"Well," Tori's smile returned as she continued her tale.

"_You think you're in love with Jade?" she had asked in amazement._

"_I think so."_

"_Okay, what happened tonight?" she sought to get the timeline straightened._

"_I dunno... We were just workin' together... All night... at school... And I just saw her sing... and then she just looked so... so pretty and sweet."_

_With difficulty, Tori hid her amazement at hearing their gothic friend so described. "Dude... you can't love Jade!" she insisted._

"_Like I don't know that?! Beck is one of my best friends!"_

"_Beck?" she asked in surprise, wondering what he had to do with anything these days._

"_Yeah, she's his ex. There's guy code to consider here," the musician explained. "I would never try to move in on a friend's ex. I don't play that way."_

"_So just forget about this," she suggested._

"_I can't!" he protested, before groaning again._

"_Why can't you?"_

"_All right, see... Ever since I was little, I could never keep my feelings inside. Even if I want to, I just can't... If I feel somethin', I gotta let it out, or else... I get wonky in the head!"_

"_Okay okay," Tori began to think; it wasn't easy with her friend continuing to groan pitifully in her ear. "Listen," she smiled. "I don't think you're in love with Jade."_

"_You don't?" he was surprised by the assessment._

"_No. You guys were just there, together, alone, late... And you were tired..."_

"_Yeah, we were tired, that's true," he agreed readily._

"_And you were writing a song, so you felt emotional..."_

"_Uh-huh, I did," again he accepted her reasoning._

"_But by tomorrow, you'll be fine again."_

"_Yeah. I bet I will," he confirmed happily. "This cocoa is good."_

"_It's from Belgium," she told him._

"_That's probably why then."_

"Makes sense," Sam nodded. "But now I can't stop thinking about Belgian chocolates." She rubbed her stomach subconsciously as the pangs of hunger swelled despite the size of the breakfast she'd recently consumed.

"It would be a shame though," Freddie was more thoughtful; Tori looked at him in surprise. "He's a nice guy, you _know_ how I think of Jade – I think they could be good together."

Tori opened her mouth to reply but closed it again as the man of the hour joined them; like Tori he looked both sleep-deprived and flustered.

"Hey, what's up?" Freddie asked in a bright, innocence-laced voice.

"Oh hey," André seemed too distracted to really notice.

"So…" Tori prompted, "how ya doin'? Feelin' wonky about Jade?" André looked from her to Freddie and Sam in mild horror. "It's ok," the brunette insisted, "I told them. They wanted to know why I look like I haven't slept."

The dreadlocked musician was relieved. "Yeah, ok. I think I got my wonk under control. I probably just need to..." he broke off as he spotted Cat, Carly and Jade herself coming towards them. "Shhh shhh, be cool be cool."

"Okay, be cool, be cool..." Tori agreed.

"I said be cool!" he snapped.

"Hey," Jade greeted the gathering.

"What's up?" Freddie smiled back at her before turning to his red haired girl.

"Hi-iii," she bounced up to him and kissed him; Carly and Sam greeted one another with a smile.

"So did you get it finished? Can I hear the song?" Jade turned to André.

"Uh," the thought suddenly occurred to him that he _hadn't_ actually managed to get it fully finished given his stop at the Vega residence. "Oh yeah, I just gotta..." he tailed off awkwardly, looking uncomfortable.

Jade waited for a few seconds before it became apparent that he wasn't going to continue. "André? The song?"

"I'll email it to ya," he told her. "Y'know, via the internet."

"Via?" She looked curiously at the others; Cat and Carly seemed as bewildered as she was while she got the feeling that Freddie, Sam and Tori knew something, given their looks were more amused than confused.

"Don't you think you guys should listen to the song together?" the brunette Seattle native asked him, subconsciously brushing a few stray strands of brown hair from her face as she turned in his direction.

"No," he rushed out. "Why together? She can listen to it by herself. I didn't do anything!"

Jade's confusion grew. Nevertheless she accepted the offer. "Okaaay. Email it to me." She gestured to the other members of her group with her head; Carly and Sam walked off with her while Cat wrapped her arms around Freddie.

"Looks like we'll catch you up," he informed the three girls cheerfully; Jade nodded.

"Via the internet?" Carly asked as they retreated.

"That's weird, right?" Jade agreed.

"Maybe you _are_ in love with Jade," Freddie commented in a low voice; Cat gasped and looked stunned at the disclosure.

"Shhhh! Don't say that!" André demanded.

"But what if you are?!" Tori pressed.

"I am!" he whined.

"You are?!" the redhead asked in joyous excitement.

"No! Stop it! Ahhhh!" he groaned yet again, palming his forehead and walking off; with his vision restricted he stumbled into Beck.

"Ooo, sorry," he apologised as he tried to edge around his friend.

"I can't talk about it!" the musician yelped and hurried off.

"Man, André's acting wonky," the long-haired actor observed conversationally as he watched him go.

"Yep," Freddie agreed.

"What's his deal?"

Tori answered quickly. "Uhhh... it's nothing..."

Beck began turning his head in Freddie's direction. "So, how's Alyssa?" the shorter-haired fencer asked cheerily.

"Oh," the taller teen paused, caught off-guard by the sudden question, "she… she's doing great thanks."

"You two over that little… hump?" he asked awkwardly; Beck cast his mind back to his admission that Alyssa had been making some of the same complaints that Jade had done and gave a small nod.

"Yeah, we talked," he told his friend in a low voice, a little to the annoyance of the two girls as it made eavesdropping more difficult. "_I_ get why it upset her, _she_ gets that I'm not _looking _for the attention but, you were right," he admitted, "I guess I need to not _encourage_ it and to actually _discourage_ it a bit more."

Freddie nodded, though he wished it had been a lesson that his friend had learned earlier.

"What was that about?" Sam demanded as they headed to class a few moments later, having said goodbye to the others.

"Beck learning from his mistakes," Freddie didn't volunteer any more information and Sam, suspecting that it in some way affected Jade (given that she knew of the history between her and Beck) did not press further.

_Mr Allen's Classroom_

"Ok everyone," the teacher called as he prepared to start the session, "especially directors," he eyed Jade and Sam particularly at this, "today is the last day you'll be spending with me so the performances will take place this afternoon, then tomorrow we'll be having a day as a whole group to wrap the course up nicely. That means," he called over the rising murmur, "that you need to be ready to go by lunchtime at the latest so any last changes that you want to make, any last rehearsals, now is the time to do them."

"I think we're good to go," Jade stifled a yawn; she too had had a late night (though not as late as André or Tori had). "You all know your lines?" she demanded commandingly; her group nodded. "Ok, we run through the whole thing and we're _going_ to be word perfect."

They were as, across the classroom, were the other group, much to Sam's delight and relief. The rehearsals went off with barely a hitch (the threat of Sam's or Jade's displeasure was enough to focus the minds of most of the participants) while Carly found herself casting the occasional shy glance in the direction of the boy she'd identified as Dusty; he was cute, she had to admit, but she stood by her statement that she was unwilling to try and enter into anything with a guy in LA at this time, despite the sly glances and grins that she received from her fellow cupcake lover.

_Black Box theatre_

Mr Allen ended the afternoon session early to allow the groups to prepare for their performances. They made their way to the theatre and Sam's team, who the teacher had decided would perform first, changed into their costumes while the finishing touches were put to the set.

Jade sat with Cat and Freddie near the front of the audience; Sam, on her other side, looked nervous as the play began, casting looks around the upper gantry to where Sinjin and a couple of others were filming the production (for the 'film' part of the course). She began to relax as the performance continued and her team reeled off their lines perfectly; Jade, however, felt her nervousness rising as the clock ticked round towards the starting time of _her_ group's play. The two would inevitably be compared and, while she was both happy for Sam's group and confident in her own, the thought of it being completely out of her hands, yet knowing that the performance would reflect on her as much if not more than any of the others, was a troubling thought.

She needn't have worried; once Sam's group finished, to tumultuous applause, her team headed backstage to get ready while the appropriate changes were made to the set. Carly replaced Freddie by Sam's side and watched as Jade's team, too, carried out their production in a near-flawless way and both directors were left smiling broadly, in delight and relief, when the extended session came to an end.

"You look ready for bed," Sam observed as the applause died down; Jade turned to her with a grin.

"I guess I am," she agreed, "it was a long night working with André and then having to write part of the lyrics _for_ him after all that."

_Not half as long as his night was_, Sam thought with a smirk of her own; fortunately Jade assumed she was smirking at the fact that the singer had turned song-writer and so didn't question her laugh.

"You guys, that was _awesome_," Tori enthused, hurrying to the front of the theatre to congratulate the two directors, both of whom accepted her praise graciously. They were still talking when the actors had changed back into their regular clothing; Cat and Freddie arrived to receive their share of the praise from their friends. Finally, as they were getting ready to leave, Tori took Freddie by the arm and steered him towards a secluded corner of the theatre.

"I'm still worried about André," she confided. "This whole _Jade_ thing has really messed him up. I _know_ your solution," she sighed as he opened his mouth, "but I don't know that he feels comfortable doing that so…" she trailed off awkwardly.

"What? What is it?" he pried.

"I uh… I thought of a plan, something that might help him. I'm gonna try it tonight."

"Well whatever it is, I can't help," Freddie replied with a hint of regret, "we need to collect Spencer from the airport and then we're going to spend the evening together as a group."

"Oh, that's ok, I wasn't trying to drag you into it," she gabbled, "I guess I just needed to tell someone and… I did," she finished in a suspiciously cheery voice.

"I think I'm best off not knowing for now," he observed; Tori privately agreed, feeling that he may well disapprove of what she had planned.

_Terminal 3, Los Angeles International Airport,_

_1 World Way, Los Angeles_

"And she didn't say anything else?" Cat asked; Freddie had filled her, Sam and Carly in on what Tori had told him (Carly was rather surprised to learn about André's feelings for Jade – and a little annoyed that the others hadn't told her sooner).

"No, in some ways it's better not to know; that way we can just enjoy tonight without worrying about what she might be up to."

"I guess," the redhead nodded, only partially convinced.

"Ah, c'mon Cat, tonight'll be fun," Sam squeezed her shoulder and gave it a little shake. Carly, meanwhile, continued to peer towards the gate, waiting for the passengers to disembark flight VX796.

She surprised her friends by lunging from her seat, only to sit down again looking slightly embarrassed as she realised that she _hadn't_ spotted her brother.

"Chill Carls, he'll be here soon," the blonde teased.

"I know, I just can't wait to see him."

"I know," Sam sympathised, "I miss him too so it must be worse for you."

"Oh, there he is, there he is!" the brunette cried, patting the blonde on the arm as she spotted her lanky elder sibling emerge from the air bridge. "SPENCER!" she called and waved enthusiastically; he turned at the cry (as did a lot of other people) and broke into a broad smile as he saw his little sister and the rest of the 'welcoming committee'.

"Hey kiddo," he hugged her after lumbering over to them. "Sam," he hugged the Shays' blonde housemate as well. "Freddo, looking good my man," he shook the boy's hand, "and Cat?" he guessed, having never actually met the boy's legendary girlfriend.

"Yep, that's me," the redhead giggled, flinging herself into the arms of the twenty-something artist, who caught her with a little difficulty.

"Ok, let's go and wait for your bags," Carly looked around for a sign for Baggage Claim before her brother spoke up.

"Uh, Carls, this is all I got," and he held up the small carry-on piece he had with him.

"What?" She was surprised.

"Well I'm only here for, like, three days."

"Yeah Carls," Sam grinned, "we don't _all_ need as much stuff as you."

The brunette frowned at her friend; Freddie spoke up. "Well, it means we can head straight off. Who's hungry?"

Led by Sam they all confirmed that they were; having piled into Freddie's car the group headed for _Wok Star_, enjoying their meal while Carly and Sam repeatedly fought off the owner's attempts to add them to her wall of celebrities.

Midway through the meal a beep on their phones drew the attention of both Cat and Freddie; checking them, both saw that they had received the same update from Tori.

* * *

_The Slap Mobile_

_ToriVega: 'Ahhh! I feel and look so weird! _

_Feeling: Jaded_

* * *

"I wonder what that's all about," Cat commented.

"Presumably it's whatever her 'plan' was that she was talking about this afternoon," Freddie speculated, "no doubt we'll hear all about it tomorrow."

"Might it not just be lack of sleep, making her jaded?" Carly suggested. "From what you say she _was_ up half the night."

"Maybe," Freddie conceded it was a possibility.

"Well you'll know tomorrow," a grinning Sam added to the brunette in a low voice, "if you and Cat are sharing a room then I can't imagine you'll get much sleep."

The worried look on Carly's face implied that she agreed with the blonde's assessment.

_Benson residence, Hollywood Hills_

Marissa had gone to bed by the time Sam and Freddie returned to his home after spending the evening with Cat and the Shays; the former tech producer switched the living area TV on, with the volume low, and reclined on one of the couches, with Sam taking the other.

"Freddie," she began in a low voice, having first cast a cautionary glance upstairs to ensure that Marissa hadn't heard their arrival.

"Yeah?"

"I uh…" she began awkwardly; most unusually for Sam she reddened a little. Casting another look upstairs she slid over to the other couch to take a seat next to the boy before continuing, "I've told you all about Brad, right?"

"Well, you've talked quite a bit about him," he confirmed with a grin; he was pleased for his close friend and also wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to tease her a little, given that she readily did the same to him.

"Yeah, and I have missed him, I _do_ miss him and I can't wait to see him again. I was just wondering…" she took a deep breath; Freddie wondered if he knew what was coming, "when's the right time to _go there_?" she rushed out.

The boy sighed; he looked away for a moment before turning to face her. "I can't answer that for you Sam, I really can't." Seeing the look of disappointment on her face he continued, "All I can tell you is what I've always told Jade about it when we talked; the right time is _when you're ready_, when you're absolutely certain that it's the right time and the right guy – definitely _not_ because he's pressuring you."

Sam chuckled darkly. "You don't need to worry about that," she smirked, "if he tried something I didn't want, you _know_ I'd rip it off him."

Freddie winced visibly but soon joined her in quiet laughter afterwards.

"So you think…" he prompted; it was her turn to sigh in thought.

"I dunno. I miss him, I _really_ like him, I… I guess I feel like I _want to_ but…"

Freddie put his hands on her shoulders. "If you have _any_ doubts, any at all, then say no. You know how long it took me to put _my_ bad experience behind me; I don't want to see you – or anyone else I care about – go through that."

"Thanks Freddie," she smiled. "I guess we could talk when I get back, see how he feels, figure it out together."

"Talking about it is probably a good idea," he nodded encouragingly.

"Oh cool, CFC," the blonde looked over his shoulder at the TV screen; she seemed to have had enough of the serious talk and simply slid off the couch to move closer to the screen, throwing enthusiastic punches as the fighter she was rooting for did likewise.

"Oh, I thought mom had blocked that again," Freddie muttered thoughtfully; he watched her for a few moments before informing her that he was heading to bed; she wished him a distracted goodnight before returning her attention to the screen.

_Main Hallway, Hollywood Arts High School,_

_Friday, 15__th__ July 2011_.

As they headed towards his locker, Freddie and Sam met up with Cat (Carly was showing Spencer around the school before the students were due to assemble in the Black Box theatre); they spotted Tori standing alone by her own locker. "I guess it's time to find out about her little scheme," the blonde observed; her friends nodded and they made their way towards her.

"Hey Tori," Freddie greeted her.

"Hi," she waved back, grinning a little guiltily; Sam picked up on it and cocked her head inquisitively.

"So what was... 'Ahhh! I feel and look so weird! Feeling: Jaded,' all about?" she asked after 'borrowing' Freddie's phone and reading the girl's _Slap_ status update aloud.

"Well…" she began awkwardly.

_Vega residence _

_Mrs Vega answered the door, as Tori was hiding upstairs, having just changed into her outfit. "Oh hi André. C'mon in," the matriarch greeted him._

"_Thanks," he walked past her into the house._

"_Is Tori expecting you?" she asked as she headed for the kitchen to gather her belongings._

"_Yeah, she asked me to come over tonight for somethin'. I dunno," he shrugged._

"_Toriiii!" her mother called. "André's here to see you!" She turned to the musician. "Well, I'm gonna head to the market."_

"_Ooo, make sure you pick up some more a'that Belgian cocoa," he urged, a little to her confusion._

"_All right," she conceded and departed the house._

_Tori, dressed as Jade (clad all in black, even sporting green hair extensions similar to the goth's) and trying to adopt the other girl's mannerisms, strode purposefully downstairs. "What are you doing in my house?" she demanded._

_André literally jumped in his seat at the girl's appearance and voice. "What in the name of gravy?"_

"Whoa, whoa, you _dressed up as Jade_?" Freddie asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I did, I really did," she admitted awkwardly.

"Why would you do that?"

"I thought it was for the best, seeing how awkward it was making him feel," she tried to explain. "He doesn't seem to want to make a move, which you'd like to see," she acknowledged, "so I thought the only other option was to try and snap him out of it… by trying to show him the worst of Jade," she finished in embarrassment.

"Did it work?" Sam asked eagerly. She caught a look the irritation on Freddie's face and tried to defend the brunette. "Oh come on, she had good intentions."

"The road to Hell is paved with them," he countered quietly.

"Uh… anyway," Tori tried to suppress the awkwardness she was feeling and continued her story.

"_Okay here's an idea," she responded to his surprised exclamation. "Say something intelligent or shut your face."_

"_Why are you all dressed up like Jade?" he wondered aloud; Tori reached behind her back and handed him a post-it note. "I'm helping you,_"_ he read. _"_Just pretend I'm Jade, and you'll see why you don't wanna be in love with a girl like her."_

"_Congrats..._" _she snapped sarcastically, _"_you can read at a second grade level._"

"_This isn't gonna work,_"_ he countered; Tori rolled her eyes and supplied a second post-it. "'Yes it will. C'mon. Just go with it.'" All right. So, Jade..._"_ he began awkwardly._

"_What?_"

"_Wanna go to a movie?_" _he offered._

"_Sure, let's go see 'Death of a kitten',_"_ she suggested._

"Sounds like my sort of movie," Sam smiled.

"I'm not sure it's _really_ Jade's genre," Freddie defended his friend, "she loves horror but I think it would offend her softer side really."

"Yeah, André didn't like the idea…" the brunette acknowledged.

"_Or... maybe we should just go out and get a hamburger._"

"_Beef makes me puke,_"_ she snapped._

"_Dang girl_," _he exclaimed._

"_Tori... Tori, you seen my glasses?_"_ her father asked as he entered the house; his daughter made sure to stay in character_.

"_Uh, I'm not your little find-it girl, all right? So if you lost your glasses, maybe you should lock yourself in the basement and cry about it._"

"Sikowitz would be very proud," Freddie commended; the girl grinned happily. "He had us do a method acting exercise a while ago," he explained to Sam.

"Right, I think I remember you saying something about it," she nodded. "Wasn't that when Jade burnt her hand?"

"Yeah, that's the one," he confirmed.

"Anyway, I had to explain it all to my dad after André had left," Tori admitted sheepishly, "he was a little surprised by my response. _Dang girl_," he said_._

"I'm not surprised," Freddie admitted.

"What did André think?" Cat asked her. "Did it work on him?"

"Not the way I thought it would," she shook her head.

"_Uh, don't you think you were a little mean to your dad...Jade?_" _the dreadlocked teen asked._

"_Deal with it_,"_ she countered, _"_'Cuz if you and I are ever boyfriend-girlfriend, I'll be way meaner to you._"_ To her amazement he responded by leaning in to kiss her. _"_Uhhh..._"_ she dropped the act, _"_what're... hey, now..._"

"_Oh Jade..._"

_In her normal voice, Tori yelled, _"_André!_"_ and began to beat him off with a cushion._

"_I - I'm sorry!_"_ he wailed. _"_You just seemed so much like Jade I got all..._"

"_Wonky?_" _she guessed._

"_Willy wonky!_" _he agreed._

"_Man...You're really messed up about this,_"_ she sympathised._

"_Y'know... last night, after... After I got home..._"

"_Yeah?_"

"_I couldn't sleep... So I stayed up 'til dawn, writing a song about Jade._"

"Up all night? No wonder he didn't finish the song _they'd_ been working on," Freddie noted.

"_And_ looked wrecked," Sam supplied.

"He wrote her a song? That's so sweet," Cat simpered.

"That's what I said," Tori agreed," but he felt differently."

"_It's evil! She's Beck's ex-girlfriend! She's dating that guy from the mall!_" _he protested._

"_I know, I know..." Tori conceded, before an idea struck her, _"_Okay okay wait wait wait wait..._"

"_What?_"

"_The song you wrote about her, you expressed your feelings in that song, right?_"

"_Yeah,_"_ he began slowly._

"_So, just sing Jade that song, and then you can get over her,_" _she suggested._

"_If I sing her the song, then she's gonna know how I feel. And then Beck'll know! And then I'm a bad person and I promised my grandma I'd never be a bad person! Y'know, before she lost her mind._"

"_Jade doesn't have to know the song's about her,_"_ she reasoned._

"_Her name's in it, like ten times!_"

"_So just change all the 'Jades' to 'baby,'" she offered._

"_Baby... Yeah, baby could be anybody,_" _he nodded as the idea grew on him._

"_Uh-huh. Then you sing your song at school..._"

"_Right, at the end of course concert._"

"_Jade'll be in the audience. You can sing her your song, and she'll never even know it's for her._"

"_I don't know if I can do it. I'm feelin' very emotional,_"_ he moaned._

"_You want me to sing it with you?_" _she offered_.

"_Yes, please._"

Freddie shook his head. "Why doesn't he just _ask_ Beck if it's ok to ask Jade out? They're not together, he's with Alyssa. When Eli wanted to date Cat I said sure, he should go for it."

"You did?" the readhead asked in surprise, having never heard this before; he turned to her with a smile.

"Yes. I was with Lindsey at the time," he reminded her, "but Eli had the same concerns as André does, '_guy code_' and all that. I just wanted you to be happy... I was at the time," his eyes glazed over a little; despite how happy he was with his life now, like he had told Sam recently, his past would always be there – the bad and the good.

_Asphalt Café_

André didn't arrive until the session had started, earning him the staff's disapproval as he tried to sneak into the Black Box theatre. Consequently there was no opportunity to talk to him about 'the Jade issue', though Freddie was able to have a quick conversation with Tori and Cat while the former's group's video was being played to them, complete with critique, both the good and the 'areas for improvement' from the staff. They decided that Freddie should try and keep the gothic girl busy while the others tackled André and, if necessary, Beck.

As it turned out, Jade was fairly easy to occupy; Carly commented that she wanted to get some 'proper coffee', given that, since Spencer's arrival the previous night, her coffee seemed to have taken a turn for the worse, and Jade, of course, jumped at the opportunity to head to _Jet Brew_. Leaving the two girls to their own devices, Freddie joined the others at their usual table; Tori gave him a concerned glance but he smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way.

"Hey guys, what's going on here?" he asked as he sat down.

"André's had something rather interesting to say," Beck informed him.

"Oh?"

Beck threw Freddie a sceptical look, not believing for a second that he didn't know what was going on. "Yeah, he wants to ask Jade out. I told him he should go for it."

"Cool," the shorter fencer nodded.

"I still dunno," the dreadlocked teen complained, "What about the _Jet Brew_ guy?"

Freddie shrugged. "Learn how to make really good coffee," he suggested, to general amusement from the rest of the table.

The subject was dropped for the remainder of lunch, while the kids talked enthusiastically about the various activities they'd done over the previous couple of weeks, how much they'd learned and how it should help them in the future. Cat, meanwhile, was beginning to get excited about her forthcoming internship while Freddie's thoughts turned to his two movies, the filming of which would also be starting in the coming days. Out of respect for his friends he tried to avoid bringing the subject up but, when it got raised, he succumbed to temptation to enthuse about the opportunities they were presenting to him.

"Y'know what," André spoke up as they left the table at the end of lunch (Jade and Carly had yet to return; Freddie suggested humorously that they were pouring as much coffee down their throats as they could while they had the chance), "I'm gonna do it; I'm gonna sing her the song, tell her how I feel." His confidence seemed to evaporate as he spoke the words out loud, for he continued, "then I'm gonna run away to Mexico. What am I thinkin'?"

"Dude, relax," Tori laughed, "she'll be flattered. Worst that can happen is she's not interested but she thinks the thought's a really sweet one."

"Well, the _worst_ that can happen is that she walks up there and slugs you afterwards," Sam countered.

"Yes, thank you Sam," Freddie spoke up quickly, seeing the panic intensify on André's face. "Just get the song ready, sing it and see what she says. As Tori says, I bet she'll love it."

"Ok," he agreed weakly.

_Saturday, 16__th__ July 2011_.

The teens had had an enjoyable day around LA; they spent the morning showing Spencer some of the sights before Cat finally succeeded in dragging them to a funfair in the afternoon. _I thought I'd managed to get out of this_, Sam had grumbled as they headed there.

"Sorry, but she insisted," Freddie smiled at the blonde.

Much to her surprise, Sam actually enjoyed the afternoon; she preferred watching the others to actually participating in any of the attractions but cheered Freddie on as he tried to win his girl a prize on the coconut shy (and mocked him a little when he failed). Both he and Spencer, who also tried and failed, complained that the game was fixed; the girls humoured them, nodding along and smiling.

Finally, though, it was time to head back to school for the end-of-course party; most of the course participants were in high spirits, enjoying a last get-together before they went their separate ways for the remainder of the summer, promising to meet up and discussing their various plans.

There was one person, however, who wasn't joining in with the discussions; André stood off to one side, speaking when spoken to but the musician's nerves had clearly reached breaking point and Tori had literally had to push him up to the gantry to perform.

"Oh, cool, André's performing now," Jade looked up and saw them; she had realised that he wasn't with them but was unaware that he was trying to avoid her. "Did you know he was singing?"

"Yeah, he said he'd been working on something for tonight," Freddie confirmed vaguely.

"Explains why it took him a while to e-mail me _our_ song," she complained.

"_Via_ the internet," Sam interjected, to general merriment.

"Much as I'd _love_ to stay and talk with you guys," Spencer spoke up; he had been with them for the start of the party before disappearing to talk to someone, now he briefly returned to the group before planning to head off again, "there's this really _hot_ girl over there by that _Grub Truck_ thing and I promised I'd teach her to make spaghetti tacos so… later."

"Wait, you're making them _now_?" Sam asked excitedly.

"Yep."

"Awesome. I'll be over as soon as they're done."

"Why am I not surprised," Freddie laughed; Sam grinned happily.

"Okay," the MC's voice came across the public address system, "comin' up next, we got André Harris and Tori Vega, singing an original song, written by André. Give it up everybody!"

The crowd cheered wildly, antitipating another fantastic performance from the duo.

"This is a song I wrote, for uh..." the musician began before his nerve faltered again.

"Go on," Tori encouraged.

"It's for Jade West," he admitted in a rush.

"WHAT?" the girl in question shouted in shock; she turned around to see Freddie, Cat, Sam and Carly all looking at her and smiling. "WHAT?" she repeated; when they didn't reply she demanded, "What's going on?"

"Just listen," Freddie replied slightly teasingly.

"Ready?" André turned to his friend and the band; they all nodded and struck up the tune. _Monday, well baby I fell for you, Tuesday, I wrote you this song._" Jade gawped.

Tori came in for the next line. "_Wednesday I'll wait outside your door_,"

"_Even though I know it's wrong,_" André finished.

"_Seven days a week, every hour of the month_," the half-Latina continued, "_Gotta let you know where my heart is coming from_."

André joined her to duet, "_I shouldn't feel this way but I gotta say_," before continuing alone, "_Baby gotta let you know_."

The two continued in unison as, on the floor of the Asphalt Café, Freddie, Cat and Carly began dancing along; Jade, meanwhile, stared in amazement, trying to take in both the words and the fact that André had written a song just for her, was performing it publically. "_I will try everything to make you come closer to me,_

_Baby 'til you believe it's not just a phase, _

_How can I get it through? You're the one I can't lose._

_I'll try three hundred, sixty-five days, three hundred, sixty-five ways to get to you._

_To get to you, you, you, baby_."

"Did you _know_ about this?" she challenged Freddie.

"I might have heard a little about what he was going through," he admitted; Jade served him with her most challenging and inquisitive stare and he smiled back.

"What do you think I should do?"

"Enjoy the song!" Cat cheered, dancing very close to Freddie; he slipped behind her and slipped his arms around her waist, nuzzling her neck as she wriggled and swayed against him; the dark-haired girl turned her gaze back to the elevated stage and looked thoughtfully as Tori and André continued the song.

"_Every second, every tick tick of the clock, I want you all to myself,_

_Every second, every tick tick of the clock, I just can't help myself,_

_Feeling kinda guilty but girl I can't stop,_"

"_I don't want nobody else_," André noted alone before Tori joined him again.

"_No one else no one el-el-el-else,_

_I will try everything to make you come closer to me,_

_I'll try three hundred, sixty-five days, three hundred, sixty-five ways to get to you_."

"Oh my God," Jade gasped as they finished; all around her people were applauding wildly.

"That was so good," Carly enthused.

"So what are you gonna do?" Sam pried. Jade looked back up at the stage, fixing André with her stare; he swallowed nervously before Jade's eyes flickered to Tori and she motioned to the foot of the stairs. The half-Latina nodded, seized the musician's sleeve and practically dragged him down to ground level.

"Hey," she kept her voice neutral; André stammered nervously. "That was a great, though I do wish you hadn't just sprung it on me like that."

"Hey, Spencer's made some spaghetti tacos over there!" Carly spoke up, sensing the awkwardness in the area.

"Let's go," Freddie agreed, gesturing towards Tori; she flew to his other side (Cat, of course, stood next to him).

"Spaghetti tacos!" Sam cheered, leading the way to the food.

"So…" the dreadlocked teen prompted awkwardly. Jade took a step towards him and he winced slightly until she surprised him with a quick hug and a peck on his cheek.

"Call me," she whispered, before stepping back. "You want to get some of those spaghetti taco things?"

"Uh huh," he agreed weakly, still a little stunned that she was receptive to his advance. When he remained rooted to the spot the girl rolled her eyes and seized his hand, practically dragging him over to Carly's elder brother. Freddie smiled approvingly at the sight and Cat clapped happily.

_Los Angeles International Airport,_

_1 World Way, Los Angeles_

_Sunday, 17__th__ July 2011_.

All too soon the fortnight had come to an end; Carly and Sam had packed, ready to go home (Spencer had barely had to unpack anything) and the girls stood just outside the airport as Freddie and Spencer heaved their cases from the trunk of his car.

"It was great to see you," Cat enthused, hugging Carly tightly. "Oh here," she ducked back inside the car, taking a box from the parcel shelf and handing it to the brunette.

Carly's eyes widened as she opened it; it contained a dozen red velvet cupcakes. "Just something for you to enjoy," the redhead smiled.

"Thanks, Cat," the web hostess matched her grin; Sam leaned over and her eyes widened as she spotted them, causing Carly to hurriedly close the lid. "Not before we get home," Carly declared vehemently; Sam turned to Freddie with a broad grin.

"Take care, Sam," he told her; the blonde drew him into a tight hug.

"You too Freddie," she released him. "Thanks for everything," he nodded, thinking back to the previous week and the stand-off with Lane over Trina's 'accident'. Sam then turned to Cat with a nod. "Look after him," she ordered the redhead; Cat smiled back and nodded enthusiastically, slipping an arm around her boyfriend.

"We need to go," Spencer told the girls regretfully; he shook hands with Freddie and Cat before the Seattle trio headed into the airport to find their gate for the flight.

"That's that then," he commented, sadness in his voice as he watched them through the glass door.

"We'll see them again soon," Cat reasoned. "And in the meantime, we've still got lots to do."

He nodded; he'd miss his friends but expected the movies to keep him busy between now and school starting again in the autumn. He was also looking forward to getting something of a play-by-play of whatever was going on between André and Jade when he saw the girl on set.

"Oops, we need to go," he observed, spotting an officious-looking traffic warden walking towards them; they jumped back into his Corolla and he pulled away from the airport.

* * *

**AN: And that's the end of this short story; the gang **_**will**_** be back for their senior year, so that story will be coming soon. In the meantime I also hope to wrap up **_**ShelbyVision**_** and **_**When Something Better Comes Along**_** soon.**

**My thanks at this time go to everyone who has reviewed this; klausgirl4055, beverlie4055, Fanfic-Reader-88, Challenge King, Martial arts student, darck ben, mkpunk, pbow, SeddieHeartLand, Guest – thank you for your feedback.**

**A huge thank you to everyone for reading. PD.**


End file.
